Struck by running powered equipment during maintenance, cleaning, testing · Amputations involving bone loss
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Centre Concrete Company, 629 East Rolling Ridge Drive, STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA 16803
on — Amputations involving bone loss, affecting the Thumb(s) and finger(s).
Final narrative
An employee had been loading the concrete plant and prepping the plant for the morning's work. The employee was using a hammer to clean the lower deadman slack pulley on a conveyor belt. The employee's right hand became caught in the running conveyor system and was crushed, resulting in amputation of the ring finger to the second knuckle and an amputation of the thumb, as well as lacerations to the finger and thumb. The employee required surgery.
Amputation Thumb(s) and finger(s) Conveyors belt, slot, chain
A temporary employee turned off a planer machine, opened the housing, and began clearing a jam. The machine's spinning blade caught his right hand and degloved the index finger.
An employee was using a tool to remove a rag from a roll on the tube mill. The roll pulled the tool and the employee's right hand into the roll, resulting in a partial amputation of the little finger and a fracture to the index finger.
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.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 327320)
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A concrete mixer truck driver was walking up the stairs of the slump rack. They fell from the slump rack platform and landed on the ground in the wash-out area. The employee sustained fractures to their left scapula and lower back vertebrae.
An employee backed their concrete truck into place to begin unloading it into a concrete pump unit. He exited the vehicle, and went to the rear to unload. When he began unloading, the truck rolled backward and pinned him against the pump unit. The employee sustained fractures to their pelvis, both femurs, both tibias and fibulas, and their left ankle.
A mechanic was changing out an air spring on a concrete mixer truck cab. The air spring was receiving higher air pressure than it was designed to use, because of a faulty level check valve. This increased pressure caused the air spring to burst. Its top portion separated and struck the employee's left forearm, causing a laceration and fracture. The employee was hospitalized, requiring 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.
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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.