Other fall to lower level 6 to 30 feet · Injuries to the brain, spinal cord and severe wounds, internal injuries
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Midwest Cooling Towers, Inc., 1401 W B R Towline Rd., BELOIT, WISCONSIN 53511
on — Injuries to the brain, spinal cord and severe wounds, internal injuries, affecting the Multiple body parts n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was installing plastic packing in a cooling tower when they disconnected their lanyard from the fall arrest system to untangle it. They fell approximately 15 feet to a guardrail station, and then another 7 feet to the lower concrete surface in the basin of the cooling tower. The employee sustained a fractured right femur, a concussion, and a collapsed lung.
Hospitalized Multiple body parts n.e.c. Towers, poles n.e.c.
An employee was operating a battery-powered broom to clean demolition debris off the top of the outermost bridge girder. The girder was approximately 11 feet above the demolition scaffold below. The employee fell approximately 8 feet to wind bracing below. The employee was hospitalized with a pelvis/tailbone fracture. Fall protection was in place at the time.
An employee was standing on the surface of a steel beam about two feet wide. He slipped and fell backward, landing on the concrete ground about 20 feet below. The employee sustained a broken pelvis.
An employee was cleaning out an inlet pipe in a stormwater structure. The employee stepped back, fell into the pipe, and landed on concrete 13 feet below, at the bottom of the structure. He suffered a broken back.
An employee was working on a platform, raised 6 to 8 feet in the air, to get something off a rack. The employee fell from the platform to the ground and sustained a head injury and injury to multiple body parts.
An employee was preparing to unjam an auger shaft while standing on a forklift-elevated, job-made platform. The employee's wrench slipped off the equipment, causing them to lose their balance and fall. The employee landed on the ground 14 feet below and suffered fractures to the orbital bone, left elbow, and lower back.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 333415)
An employee was helping to move a 1,300-pound coil on a cart. The steel caster hit a crack in the concrete, the weld holding the caster onto the cart broke, and the coil and cart tipped over onto the employee. He was hospitalized with a laceration on his forehead and a pelvic fracture on his right side.
An employee was observing expansion rods on a coil expander going into a coil to ensure copper stubs weren't being bent. His left hand was caught between the locking block and locking block clamp on the power press machine, resulting in partial amputation of his left little finger from the distal interphalangeal joint.
An employee was setting up a press brake and rolling over a die when the tip of their left little finger was caught between the horizontal working surface of the press brake and die. The employee sustained partial amputation of their fingertip.
An employee was working to remove an access panel to begin performing maintenance on a machine. The set pins on the bottom of the panel were broken. The bottom kicked out and fell, striking the employee's left foot and resulting in a fracture to the big toe.
The injured employee was assisting five other employees with bracing a wall panel that was being stood up. Another employee slipped on frost on the floor surface. The employees went to evacuate the area in anticipation of the wall panel falling over. The injured employee went to jump through a window opening within the wall panel and their lower half was crushed by the falling wall panel. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis.
An employee was using a vertical band saw to cut a thick piece of rubber material. While being cut, the material shifted, causing the employee s right hand to contact the moving blade. The employee's thumb was amputated below the knuckle. The employee was hospitalized, undergoing surgery.
A production sanitation employee was pre-rinsing an incline conveyor and noticed cheese stuck between the belt idler. The employee went to remove the cheese and their glove got caught and pulled their left forearm into the conveyor. The employee's arm was fractured. The machine was not locked out/tagged out at the time.
An employee was on a ladder, taking measurements for a new gutter installation. The ladder slipped out from under him and both he and the ladder fell to the ground. He was hospitalized with seven broken ribs and a broken clavicle.
An employee was unloading a truck for a delivery job. While moving boxes in the truck, the employee tripped over a pallet and fell out of the truck to the ground, resulting in four broken ribs.