Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Kobalt Construction, 1570 Stokes Park Road, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA 18017
on — Amputations, avulsions, enucleations unspecified, affecting the Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s).
Final narrative
An employee was setting a concrete pipe in the street when the excavator shifted causing the pipe setting apparatus to shift, resulting in the amputation of the employee's left thumb tip.
Amputation Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s) Source, secondary source unspecified
A crew was installing drilled micropiles alongside an outdoor covered deck foundation. The injured employee was working the front of the drill when a loose section of casing dropped onto the tip of a rig wrench and pulled the wrench down to an embedded casing. The employee's left little finger was caught between the rig wrench and the embedded casing and was amputated above the top knuckle.
An employee was checking a pole-type transformer tank for leaks. A hydraulic clamping device was lowered onto his right thumb and crushed it against the sharp edge of the bottom of the tank. He suffered a partial transphalangeal amputation to the thumb.
An employee had been cleaning the work area. While lifting a saw, the employee's index finger was lacerated by the saw blade. A tendon was cut and required surgery.
An employee was installing a hydraulic extension cylinder in a tow truck when their leg was caught between the cylinder and the truck frame. The employee was hospitalized with a broken tibia, which required surgery.
An employee was sorting sucker rods. His right hand was caught in the area where the rod hits up against the frame and his index fingertip was amputated just below the nail.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 238910)
An employee was directing trucks as they entered and left a highway work zone. A vehicle struck them, resulting in multiple fractures and other injuries. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was assisting the crew with patching and restoring a roadway after the installation of a sewer line. He was helping place and level the blacktop/backfill material over the trench area to bring the road surface back to proper grade. The employee was walking between a forward-moving dump truck and a dirt pile when his right foot was run over by the truck s wheel, causing him to fall. The employee sustained injury to his foot.
An employee was operating a skid steer with a bucket attachment at a demolition site. While driving it to the rear of the property to park it, the employee came into contact with a live electrical transformer unit that was located outside of the facility. The employee sustained electrical burns on his hands extending up to his elbows and a fractured ankle.
An employee was installing a door on a semi-trailer. They were using a forklift to lift the door to the height of the trailer when the door became jammed between the forklift mast and the hinge on the trailer. When the employee went to dislodge the door from the mast, the door fell and crushed their foot. Their big toe was amputated. The employee was hospitalized and their big toe was surgically reattached. The employee's foot and other toes also required surgery.
An employee was walking into the motor control center (MCC) room when his right ring finger was caught in the hinge of a doorway. He sustained an open phalanx fracture, which resulted in a partial amputation above the first knuckle.
An employee was changing the spacing on a telehandler's forks. A fork slipped, and the employee's left index finger was caught between it and the mast. The fingertip was medically amputated at the first knuckle.
An employee was pulling down a broken skid with a forklift. When the employee backed up the forklift to get the forks out of the skid he pulled down, he contacted the forks of another parked forklift, fracturing both of his legs. He was hospitalized.
An employee was carrying cups back to the kitchen when her foot got caught on a cart and she fell face-first. During the fall, a piece of glass from a cup cut the inside of her mouth, severing an artery. She also sustained a laceration on her lower lip. The employee was hospitalized.