Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc., 208 W Water Street, SHULLSBURG, WISCONSIN 53586
on — Fractures , affecting the Rib(s), oblique area.
Final narrative
An employee was cleaning the floor next to the A-frame cheese press weighing 1500 lbs. The press wheel got caught in a drain, causing it to tip over and strike the employee. The employee sustained fractured ribs.
Hospitalized Rib(s), oblique area Dairy and milk processing machinery
An employee was gathering products for an order in the back of a truck while the lift gate was down. The employee fell approximately 5 feet onto the ground, resulting in nine rib fractures, a collarbone fracture, a lung puncture, and a bulging vertebral disc in the back.
An employee was preparing to load product onto a trailer and was arranging stacks of milk. The hydraulic arm of the dolly loader came forward, pinning his right ankle. The employee sustained a right ankle fracture.
An employee was working in the cooler when their foot got caught in the floor chain that moves product throughout the cooler. The employee sustained crushing injuries to the right foot.
An employee was adjusting a blow molding milk container machine when it closed on and smashed the employee's right pinky, resulting in hospitalization and surgery.
An employee was cleaning around a drain in the area where milk cartons are placed on a conveyor belt. The employee reached in around the conveyor's chain-and-sprocket drive, which pulled and partially amputated the employee's right thumb between the sprocket and chain.
An employee was pulling a steel parts handcart when its wheels caught on something and locked up. The cart fell backward. The cart handle struck the middle of the employee's right foot, breaking bones. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was manually moving a tall cart filled with pints of ice cream within the facility. While transferring the cart toward the exterior of the receiving area, the cart passed over a floor drainage grate, became unstable, and fell toward the employee, pinning him underneath. The cart and its contents landed on his lower right leg, resulting in multiple fractures.
An employee was re-arranging boxes of pipe insulation on a pallet. One of the boxes fell from the pallet and knocked over an upright empty cylinder. The cylinder fell and crushed the tip of the employee's right toe. The employee's toe required surgical amputation.
An employee was moving a ramming machine to a staging area. While using the controls on the side of the machine, there was a sudden heavy rainfall causing the equipment to slide. The ramming machine tipped over and caught the employee against the ground. The employee sustained a fracture to the right side of their pelvis and was hospitalized.
An employee was transporting a cart containing instruments and packs to the operating room. The cart tipped over and fell on top of the employee. They sustained pain in their lower back and radiculopathy in their lower extremities.
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.
The injured employee was assisting five other employees with bracing a wall panel that was being stood up. Another employee slipped on frost on the floor surface. The employees went to evacuate the area in anticipation of the wall panel falling over. The injured employee went to jump through a window opening within the wall panel and their lower half was crushed by the falling wall panel. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis.
An employee was using a vertical band saw to cut a thick piece of rubber material. While being cut, the material shifted, causing the employee s right hand to contact the moving blade. The employee's thumb was amputated below the knuckle. The employee was hospitalized, undergoing surgery.
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 on a ladder, taking measurements for a new gutter installation. The ladder slipped out from under him and both he and the ladder fell to the ground. He was hospitalized with seven broken ribs and a broken clavicle.
An employee was unloading a truck for a delivery job. While moving boxes in the truck, the employee tripped over a pallet and fell out of the truck to the ground, resulting in four broken ribs.