Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Space Exploration Technologies Corp., 1 Massey Way, BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS 78521
on — Fractures , affecting the Trunk and other upper extremities.
Final narrative
A mobile crane tipped over. The crane operator jumped from the cab and suffered a fractured wrist and pelvis, as well as a minor head injury.
Hospitalized Trunk and other upper extremities Cranes other mobile cranes
More severe injuries at Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
A Space Exploration Technologies Corp. employee was setting up equipment for a welding operation, working from a ladder leaning against a domed vehicle structure. The ladder became unstable at the base, causing the employee to fall about 6 feet and strike their head on the metal leg of a work platform. The employee suffered a concussion and a subdural hematoma and was hospitalized.
An employee was holding the bottom of a metal stringer (about 25 feet long and 6 inches wide, made of thin-gauge stainless steel) while others were tack welding it to a tank wall. The tack welds gave way. The stringer dropped about 4 inches and pinched the employee's right index fingertip against the support tooling. The fingertip was amputated without bone loss.
An employee was performing maintenance on a roll-up door that had four bolts removed from an L-bracket. Two still-installed bolts sheared off while under pressure, causing the employee's right hand to become caught between the bracket and a chain sprocket. The employee suffered an amputation to their middle finger.
An employee was mowing a residential lawn at a client's house. The mower slid on the land and tipped over onto him. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured vertebra in the neck and partial paralysis.
An employee was driving a forklift when its right front wheel dropped off a 6-inch curb. The forklift rolled over and trapped him against the concrete surface. He suffered a broken pelvis, ribs, and collarbone, as well as a collapsed lung.
An employee was operating a utility task vehicle (UTV). During a left turn, the vehicle rolled over on its right side. The employee suffered a lumbar strain and fractures to four lower-back vertebrae. She was hospitalized.
An employee was loading a telehandler onto a trailer and the right wheels were misaligned with the trailer, causing the telehandler to tip and fall to the right. The employee went to exit the telehandler as it fell, striking his head on the cage and frame of the telehandler. The employee sustained a concussion, a head laceration, and fractured vertebrae.
An employee was driving an ATV when it overturned and rolled onto its side. The employee sustained a fractured elbow requiring hospitalization and surgery.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 336414)
A Space Exploration Technologies Corp. employee was setting up equipment for a welding operation, working from a ladder leaning against a domed vehicle structure. The ladder became unstable at the base, causing the employee to fall about 6 feet and strike their head on the metal leg of a work platform. The employee suffered a concussion and a subdural hematoma and was hospitalized.
An employee was exiting the maintenance building when she tripped and fell on a paved incline walkway. She caught herself with her left hand and was hospitalized with a fractured left wrist that required surgery.
An employee was troubleshooting a dust collector when they sustained partial amputations to three of their right fingertips from the spinning rotor of the motor.
An employee was deburring a metal piece using a disc sander when their right thumb contacted the sanding surface, resulting in a partial traumatic metacarpophalangeal amputation.
Two employees were removing a clamp from the top of a pipe spool. The pipe fell and then shifted sideways, trapping one employee's thumb. The sleeve around the outside of the insulated pipe caused a crush injury to the thumb, resulting in a partial degloving.
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.