Contact with hot objects or substances · Other or multiple types of burns second degree
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Hilmar Cheese Company, 12400 US HWY 385, DALHART, TEXAS 79022
on — Other or multiple types of burns second degree, affecting the Trunk and other lower extremities.
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Final narrative
A maintenance employee was troubleshooting a clean-in-place (CIP) line at the whey protein liquid processing area. The employee was repairing the CIP valve when a nearby valve pulsated and released hot water/caustic liquid that contacted the employee's abdomen and lower extremities. The employee was hospitalized for second-degree burns.
Hospitalized Trunk and other lower extremities Corrosive bases unspecified
An employee was operating a dry packaging machine when the machine jammed. As the employee attempted to unjam the hopper, the auger caught and degloved the employee's left index finger, resulting in the loss of the nail.
An employee was operating a standup forklift while putting parts up on a conveyor line. He was backing up when the forklift appeared to speed up and move toward some stairs. He attempted to stop the forklift using his left foot, but his foot was caught and fractured between the standup forklift and the stairs.
On or about October 8, 2015, at 1135 hours, a worker for Hilmar Cheese Company was unhooking a hose from a truck that he thought had finished unloading heavy cream. The truck was still loading and the hose was under pressure. When the worker unhooked the hose, the valve slammed shut on his finger. The worker was taken to Dalhart Memorial Hospital and later to BSA Hospital in Amarillo, where the distal phalanges of his right index finger were removed due to the extent of his injury.
An employee pulled out a bucket of hot oil from under the fryer. The employee then stood on the table to clean the back wall. He stepped down into the bucket of hot oil, resulting in third-degree burns to his left leg.
An employee was performing maintenance under a kettle. When he removed a tri-clamp on a transfer line, the hot fat and broth material in the kettle poured out onto his arm. The employee was hospitalized with burns.
After completing a run with an oil distributor truck, an employee was working to return (suction) the hot oil to the tank of the truck. When the employee opened one of the valves, hot oil (approximately 385 degrees) sprayed their face, resulting in first-, second-, and third-degree burns.
An employee was filtering a fryer with a fryer filter machine. After going around the corner and then returning to the fryers, the employee stepped into the filter machine. The hot oil burned the employee's right ankle, and the employee was hospitalized.
An employee was using a water hose to clean debris out of the outfeed of a log conditioning vat. Water began entering the vat from the adjoining vat through a void in the separation wall at the infeed of the vats. As the employee was exiting the vat he had been working in using the access opening at the outfeed, hot water exiting the access opening entered the top of his protective hip wader. It pooled at the bottom of the wader and burned his left foot and ankle.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 311513)
An employee was diagnosing the lack of flow of product to a powder bin. The employee removed the rotary star valve below the bin. While he was reinstalling the valve, his right middle finger was crushed between its shaft and its housing. The finger was partially amputated.
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 changing an O-ring on a pneumatic valve. The employee had placed the valve on his work cart and was applying air to open the valve and access the O-ring. After changing the O-ring, the valve closed on his fingertip, crushing it. He was taken to the hospital, where he received an amputation.
An employee was using a pike to move a pallet of sugar that was stuck in the powder racking. The employee fell backward, landing on his right leg. The employee's leg was fractured and he was hospitalized.
The injured employee was carrying totes of cheese when they tripped over another employee's foot/ankle and fell to the cement floor. The injured employee sustained six fractured ribs on the left side and was hospitalized.
After cutting a slab of beef short ribs, an employee turned to grab the pieces he had cut and his right hand contacted the saw blade. The employee sustained an amputation to his right index finger.
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 was walking up a walkway to enter a building through the back entrance when she tripped over the lip of the cement ramp. The employee fell and sustained a fractured right hip.