Exposure to environmental heat unspecified · Heat stroke, syncope
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at STEPAN COMPANY, 22500 Stepan Drive, ELWOOD, ILLINOIS 60421
on — Heat stroke, syncope, affecting the BODY SYSTEMS .
Final narrative
An employee was wearing full PPE while emptying a 55-gallon drum of phosphorus pentoxide and fainted, collapsing and striking their head against the ground. The employee was hospitalized and it is likely that heat caused by wearing full body PPE contributed to fainting.
An employee was transporting drums of finished polyester resin to a reactor for rework. When he removed the bung on one of the drums, the polyester resin splashed his face, causing a chemical burn.
An employee was blowing down a mist eliminator when the side glass broke and sprayed sulfuric acid onto the employee's face and right ear, causing acid burns that required hospitalization.
At about 10:30 a.m. on August 7, 2025, a warehouse technician working for Tnemec Company, Inc., began sweating profusely a half-hour into their shift. The employee was using a forklift to move staged pallets of paint to a shrink-wrapper, shrink-wrap the pallets, and then load the pallets onto a truck using a forklift. The employee became ill about two hours later and was hospitalized for heat-related illness.
On July 29, 2025, an employee working near a metal furnace. Toward the end of his shift, he was charging a furnace and began to experienced heat exhaustion. He had also been in areas of elevated temperatures due to heat sources such as direct sunlight and a combustion engine. The employee was hospitalized with dehydration.
Two employees were lifting a roll of steel poly bar (50 inches and approximately 150 pounds) from ground level to a height of 4 feet at the 66-inch rubber calendar. One employee dropped the roll, resulting in the poly bar contacting the injured employee's right knee. The employee was hospitalized with fractured right patella.
Employees were loading a 295-pound transformer onto a pickup truck using a forklift. The injured employee was acting as the spotter. The transformer hit the tailgate of the pickup truck and the spotter's right hand was struck by the transformer, resulting in amputation of the ring fingertip.
An employee was troubleshooting a plug in the super-absorbent polymer line. The employee opened an inspection port and their right hand was caught in a rotary valve, resulting in the amputation of four fingers between the knuckle and the first joint.
An employee was conducting a quality control measure by taking a chemical sample for lab analysis. When the employee was opening the sample point, it broke off and crude 2-Ethylhexyl thioglycolate (EHTG) shot out at 265 degrees, and it covered the employee's legs and right arm and splashed the right side of their face. The employee was hospitalized with first- and second-degree burns to their right thigh, lower right knee, inner left thigh, and upper left forearm.
An employee was performing a routine tank change when phosgene gas was released. The employee was exposed to the gas for about a minute. After about six hours, the employee developed respiratory distress symptoms. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was changing a die in a press when the die slipped and crushed the employee's left index finger. The employee sustained an open facture of the tuft of the left distal phalanx and a partial amputation.
An employee was driving a boom lift (in the lowered position) in an exterior dock area. The lift s left wheels rolled onto base plates that covered a 3-foot-deep sump pit. The base plates failed, and one side of the lift dropped. The employee's left leg was caught under the lift basket, and he suffered a fracture to the lower leg including the ankle.