Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Arctic Glacier U.S.A., Inc., 632 Main Street, HILL CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA 57745
on — Fractures , affecting the Hip(s) and leg(s) n.e.c..
Final narrative
Two employees were delivering ice to the icebox outside a convenience store. The driver was using an electric pallet jack to load an empty pallet onto the truck. The injured employee was unloading ice from a pallet and placing the ice into the customer's icebox. With the truck s liftgate fully raised, the driver went to lift the forks of the pallet jack so the pallet would clear the truck bed. The pallet jack malfunctioned and reversed off the liftgate. It struck the injured employee resulting in fractures to their left hip/femur.
Hospitalized Hip(s) and leg(s) n.e.c. Non-riding pallet jack
More severe injuries at Arctic Glacier U.S.A., Inc.
An employee was climbing off the back of a delivery truck when he slipped and fell 52 inches onto a block wall that was adjacent to the parked truck, resulting in fractured ribs and a punctured lung.
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.
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An employee was attempting to lift a steel beam from a horizontal, stacked position to a vertical position using a crane. They had placed two hooks on the east side of the beam on the flange. As the employee was hoisting the crane, the beam began to shift and pulled the employee forward onto the stack. When the material shifted, the hooks released and the material fell, pinning the employee between the two beams. The employee was hospitalized with soft tissue contusions on their proximal right thigh and interior left thigh.
An employee was moving a tensile strength test device with a dolly. The device fell from the dolly onto the employee's right leg, causing a compound fracture.
An employee was removing a jammed metal ring from a ring bag closer when the machine cycled and contacted his left index finger. The employee sustained a fingertip amputation.
An employee lost his footing on the ladder or the ladder slipped out from under him as he leaned into the open port with a broom to sweep out the ice flakes. The employee sustained three fractured ribs on his right side and a contusion to the right side of his head.
An employee was making repairs on the conveyor chain which serves an automated stacking machine when they were struck by the robotic arm of the stacking machine. The employee was knocked down into a bag stop at the end of the conveyor and one of the metal rods punctured his skin underneath his left armpit. The employee suffered a puncture wound and a left scapula fracture.
On September 5, 2023, an employee was using a butcher's band saw to cut ice when her left hand was cut by the blade. The index, middle, and ring fingers were amputated around the first knuckle.
An employee was unpacking an ice bagger that was approximately 6 feet long and 10 feet tall and weighed 300-400 pounds. The machine was on the ground in a crate. The employee was removing the crate when the machine tipped over and crushed his leg.
An employee was moving a tensile strength test device with a dolly. The device fell from the dolly onto the employee's right leg, causing a compound fracture.
An employee was walking past a crossover conveyor when a ramp came down and hit them in the back. The employee sustained a broken back vertebra, as well as a concussion, and was hospitalized.
An employee was using a hook tool to pull a pallet onto the lift gate of a tractor trailer. The hook detached from the underside of the pallet, causing the employee to fall backward off the lift gate. The employee landed on the concrete parking lot about 5 feet below, suffering fractures to the skull and two thoracic vertebrae.
An employee was walking on a truss table when he lost his balance and fell approximately 3 feet to the floor. The employee sustained a dislocated and fractured left ankle.