Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Region Energy, 85 W Lake Shore Dr, ROCKAWAY, NEW JERSEY 07866
on — Soft tissue injuries unspecified, affecting the Exterior and musculoskeletal structures of the back unspecified.
Final narrative
An employee was delivering propane to a customer when he heard a pop in his lower back. The employee was hospitalized with a back injury.
Hospitalized Exterior and musculoskeletal structures of the back unspecified Source, secondary source unspecified
An employee was wrapping pallets using a plastic wrap dispenser when he felt a pop in his back along with a burning and stabbing sensation. The employee sustained the herniation of discs L4 and L5.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 454310)
An employee was connecting a hose to fill a propane cylinder. The flow of propane was activated when the filler nozzle was partially connected to the cylinder. The nozzle detached from the cylinder valve, causing expanding liquid propane to release through the nozzle. This caused the employee to lose his balance, spin, become entangled in the hose, and fall. He struck his head on the ground and suffered fractures to the temple and cheekbones, a laceration on the forehead, and a brain bleed. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was filling a motor fuel cylinder from a bobtail. When he opened the handle on the fill nozzle it popped off the filler valve and pushed him back into a rack where he struck his head on a cylinder cage. He sustained a laceration to the back left side of his head. While working to wrestle the hose to the ground, he sustained burns from liquid propane on the right side of his chest and right arm, and sustained minor burns on the left side.
An employee had been refueling empty propane tanks at a site. He drove back to the bulk plant facility and began to feel ill. The employee sustained dehydration due to heat.
An employee was pumping liquid propane from a propane delivery truck to a storage tank. After the transfer was completed, the employee closed the valves and disconnected the transfer hose. During the transfer, the liquid propane auto-refrigerated the riser pipe of the storage tank and that delayed the vaporization of the propane. Upon reaching a higher temperature, liquified propane began rapidly expanding. Liquid propane then discharged from the pipe and contacted the employee, causing cold burns. The employee was hospitalized for second-degree burns to their torso and arms.
A contract employee was working to free stuck wood from a pan on a firewood processing machine. The pan flipped up and struck the employee on the left side of their face, resulting in fractured facial bones.
An employee was installing fence posts when they stepped into a recently dug hole that was not visible due to rainfall. The employee's leg was fractured.
An employee assisted in cleaning material from a conveyor pit. After the pit was cleaned, the employee proceeded to replace metal safety plates to ensure other employees did not fall into the pit. While replacing one of the last plates, the employee mis-stepped and fell approximately 5 feet into the pit. The employee was hospitalized with back/side bruising, elbow bruising, bone bruises, and/or fractured ribs.
An employee was walking on the sidewalk. When they stepped off the curb, they fell to the ground, resulting in fractures to their tibia, fibula, and a metatarsal.