Compressed between running equipment and other object(s) · Avulsions, enucleations without bone loss
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at New Jersey Natural Gas Company, 15 Kilmer Drive, MANALAPAN, NEW JERSEY 07726
on — Avulsions, enucleations without bone loss, affecting the Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s).
Final narrative
An employee was using a pipe threading machine to thread a 2-inch diameter gas pipe during the rebuilding of a gas meter. The pipe was in a vise mounted on the back of the crew truck. A few pieces of metal chips or shavings caused the threading machine to jam. The employee started to back the pipe up, but it jammed in that direction as well. While reaching to pull the handle back up into place to try and start again, the machine rotated about an inch and pinched his middle fingertip against the edge of the truck s back step. The employee's fingertip was partially amputated without loss of bone.
Amputation Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s) Threading, tapping machinery
More severe injuries at New Jersey Natural Gas Company
An employee was working to build an electrical substation. He was cleaning out the inside of a fixed section of a PVC pipe on the end that was furthest from an excavator. The excavator was outside of the trench and more than 25 feet away when it moved a pipe, pinching the employee's right arm between the two pipes. The employee's forearm was fractured.
An employee was anchored to a movable piece of equipment called a "lid" with a self-retracting lifeline harness. An overhead crane lifted the equipment, causing the employee to be pulled by his harness. The employee was pulled off the walkway and swung over the wall of the kiln. His body and head struck the wall. The employee lost consciousness and sustained a laceration to the side of his head that required stitches. The employee also sustained multiple fractured ribs and fractured vertebrae.
An employee was in a scissor lift, preparing to strip formwork from the underside of a concrete deck. As the lift was ascending, the employee's left little finger was pinched between the lift rail and the concrete beam above. The employee was hospitalized, and the soft tissue of their left little fingertip was amputated; the finger's bony tuft was also damaged.
An employee was operating an order picker when his left middle finger was crushed between the lift and storage racking. The employee's fingertip was amputated.
An employee was ascending in a scissor lift when his left thumb was caught between between the railing of the lift and a piece of equipment installed in the ceiling. The employee's thumb tip was amputated.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 221210)
An employee was operating an aerial work platform. While the employee was maneuvering the lift through a set of double doors, their head was caught between the door frame and the platform's vertical mast. The employee suffered a skull fracture that required surgery.
An employee was transporting used filter media (containing pyrophoric iron sulfide) from an inlet gas separator in the bed of a truck. The material ignited. While the employee was removing items from the truck bed, a gas can was exposed to the fire and off-gassing vapors ignited. The employee suffered first- and second-degree burns to both arms, the chest, the neck, and the right ear. The employee was hospitalized.
The injured employee was manually lowering a ramp on a heavy equipment trailer with the assistance of another employee. The injured employee was standing behind the trailer ramp. After removing the safety pins, the ramp descended quickly and struck the injured employee, causing them to fall to the ground. The employee was hospitalized with fractures to their sternum and L1 vertebra.
An employee was performing a pipe count while a pipeline contractor was unloading steel pipe at a staging yard. The contractor was preparing to set a pipe segment (12 diameter) on the top row of a pyramid-shaped stack using an excavator. The contractor was making his final adjustments before setting the pipe when the injured employee (Enbridge Inspector) went to get label information from one of the pipes in the stack. The pipe stack shifted as the contractor began to position the pipe, and the bottom piece (42 feet long and 2,083 pounds) rolled onto the injured employee s lower left leg, trapping the employee underneath it. The employee was hospitalized with a compound fracture of his tibia and fibula and he required surgery.
An employee was installing fence posts when they stepped into a recently dug hole that was not visible due to rainfall. The employee's leg was fractured.
An employee assisted in cleaning material from a conveyor pit. After the pit was cleaned, the employee proceeded to replace metal safety plates to ensure other employees did not fall into the pit. While replacing one of the last plates, the employee mis-stepped and fell approximately 5 feet into the pit. The employee was hospitalized with back/side bruising, elbow bruising, bone bruises, and/or fractured ribs.
An employee was walking on the sidewalk. When they stepped off the curb, they fell to the ground, resulting in fractures to their tibia, fibula, and a metatarsal.