Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Utz Quality Foods, LLC, 531 Eagen Road, BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA 35214
on — Fractures , affecting the Thigh(s).
Final narrative
An employee was plugging IT equipment into an IT box that was bolted to a wall approximately 6 feet off the floor. The employee was standing on an 8-foot step ladder when the door of the box swung toward the employee. He lost his balance and fell from the ladder to the concrete floor, resulting in a fractured femur.
An employee was operating a standup forklift when the mast struck a tunnel that it was going through. This caused the employee to fall from the forklift onto a metal grate. The forklift then ran over their left foot causing an injury requiring surgery.
An employee was installing/stringing film around a packaging machine's former when their index finger became caught between the drive belt and pulley. They sustained a crush injury to the fingertip that was medically amputated to the distal joint.
An employee was bending down to lift a pallet when pain caused his back to seize up and he fell backwards. He suffered a back strain or possible disk injury, requiring hospitalization.
An employee was retrieving a Christmas tree from a shelf using a ladder. He missed a step and fell to the concrete floor. He sustained injury to his head and wrist.
An employee was unloading a carpet pad from a truck when they fell from the truck dock to the concrete below, resulting in five fractured ribs and an injury to their left lung.
An employee fell from a step ladder while reaching for a tie-off point. He impacted the ground, and landed on his bolt bag which contained tools. The employee was hospitalized with fractured ribs, and a lacerated spleen and kidney.
An employee slipped while descending in a stairwell, fell, and suffered multiple contusions/bruises to the head, neck, shoulders, knees, and back. She was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 311919)
While attending the slab line, an employee observed that dough was accumulating on the plastic blades. He proceeded to clean the blades. His left index finger came into contact with an adjacent blade that moves laterally (left to right), resulting in a partial amputation.
A sanitation employee entered the chemical room and slipped on the wet floor. When he slipped, he kicked over a bucket containing cleaning chemicals. The chemicals splashed onto the employee's clothing and burned his skin.
An employee's right middle fingertip was caught between a chain and a sprocket in a machine. The fingertip was amputated. The machine was unguarded at the time.
An employee had just finished unloading material from a truck. He was descending using the truck's built-in ladder when he missed the last rung, fell to the ground, and broke his hip and left wrist.
An employee was using a handheld grinder to cut a bolt. The grinding wheel broke apart and a fragment struck the employee s right hand, causing a laceration to the palm near the little finger.
An employee was traveling down the maintenance aisle of a warehouse on a single-pallet front rider jack. The jack malfunctioned, causing the brakes to apply; the employee fell forward onto the concrete warehouse floor. The employee suffered an injury to the left leg and was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
An employee was operating a metal roller machine to roll a small piece of metal. The employee's right index finger became caught between the metal and the machine, and the fingertip was amputated.
An employee was directing a truck driver to a dump site when the truck's peanut trailer slipped off the kingpin. As the trailer fell, a ladder attached to it lacerated the employee's ear. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was unloading a forklift from a trailer to the ground. The employee was climbing down the ladder of the trailer when their foot slipped through one of the rungs, causing them to fall backward onto the forklift forks. The employee was hospitalized for fractured ribs.