Minnkota Power Cooperative

An employee was carrying 3-foot string glass insulator bells to hand off to the other employees in the bucket truck. As he was carrying the glass insulator bells, he took a step back and stepped on a chunk of dirt. The employee fell backward and landed on another set of bells that was behind him, resulting in fractures to a rib and three vertebrae.

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.

An employee was performing troubleshooting and maintenance on one of the generators that feed the RF line for glue-laminated timber (glulam) beam production. He was reattaching the outer panel of the generator. A circuit was completed and the employee was electrocuted by the generator and sustained burns. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee was utilizing a utility task vehicle (UTV) to patrol a 138 kV transmission line in a right-of-way. The UTV drove into a washout hole that was approximately 6 feet deep and obstructed by vegetation. The employee sustained a dislocated shoulder, a fractured left humerus, back pain, and a strained ankle. He was hospitalized.

A crew of employees were working to replace a utility pole that was broken by a motor vehicle accident. As the crew was removing equipment from the broken pole, part of the pole broke, fell on the injured employee, and rolled over him. The employee sustained two broken shoulders, multiple broken ribs, and a damaged lung that required hospitalization and surgery.

An Ameren lineman was making secondary voltage connections in a pad-mounted residential feed transformer. The lineman contacted an energized lead bushing, sustained an electrical shock, and was hospitalized.

An employee was checking voltage on a meter. There was an arc flash, and the employee suffered burns to both hands.

An employee was walking in a garage toward her delivery vehicle. As she stepped down a curb near her vehicle, she fell and landed on the concrete garage floor, resulting in a hip injury that required hospitalization.

Employees were performing maintenance operations on a railroad line when the machine experienced a load conveyor motor failure. While clearing the machine to allow for repairs, an employee pinned the left side of the swing conveyor. The operator on the right side then requested a slight bump to the left to align the right side for pinning. Once the swing was in position, the operator went to pin the right side and the chain tensioner failed, resulting in an abrupt release of the swing chain. The chain snapped back and struck the operator s right hand, resulting in a 1-inch laceration and a fractured fifth metacarpal. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery on the hand.

At about 9:15 a.m. on March 10, 2025, an employee was riding along a hardpack snow-covered roadway on a snowmobile. The snowmobile went over a berm and tipped/rolled, causing the employee to fall to the ground. He suffered a collapsed left lung and was hospitalized.

An employee was struck by a truck and sustained a broken right leg.

On September 9, 2024, an employee was operating the dual pass rough cull (DPRC) machine when their left index finger contacted the chain belt, resulting in amputation of the fingertip.