Contact with hot objects or substances · Thermal burns degree unspecified
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at STERIS Corporation, 510 Saybrook Road, MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT 06457
on — Thermal burns degree unspecified, affecting the Multiple body parts n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was replacing the heating element on a small steam sterilizer when they were burned by hot water and steam on their arms, chest, abdomen, and thighs.
Hospitalized Multiple body parts n.e.c. Water, liquids nonchemical
A STERIS installer had uncrated a drying cabinet and was working with a STERIS installation specialist to tilt the cabinet up. As the unit was being tilted up, it slid forward, causing both employees to lose balance. The drying cabinet fell on the installer s right middle finger, resulting in an open fracture and amputation of the distal fingertip.
On February 8, 2018, an employee was removing operating room lights from spindles and replacing them. As he reached up to grab one, the knuckle where the light bends snapped on his left index finger, resulting in a partial amputation below the second knuckle.
An employee pulled out a bucket of hot oil from under the fryer. The employee then stood on the table to clean the back wall. He stepped down into the bucket of hot oil, resulting in third-degree burns to his left leg.
An employee was performing maintenance under a kettle. When he removed a tri-clamp on a transfer line, the hot fat and broth material in the kettle poured out onto his arm. The employee was hospitalized with burns.
After completing a run with an oil distributor truck, an employee was working to return (suction) the hot oil to the tank of the truck. When the employee opened one of the valves, hot oil (approximately 385 degrees) sprayed their face, resulting in first-, second-, and third-degree burns.
An employee was filtering a fryer with a fryer filter machine. After going around the corner and then returning to the fryers, the employee stepped into the filter machine. The hot oil burned the employee's right ankle, and the employee was hospitalized.
An employee was using a water hose to clean debris out of the outfeed of a log conditioning vat. Water began entering the vat from the adjoining vat through a void in the separation wall at the infeed of the vats. As the employee was exiting the vat he had been working in using the access opening at the outfeed, hot water exiting the access opening entered the top of his protective hip wader. It pooled at the bottom of the wader and burned his left foot and ankle.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 339113)
An employee was running a can coder that runs on a conveyor belt. The employee was stepping over the rollers when she slipped or tripped. She fell to the floor and sustained a fractured right ankle, requiring surgery.
On August 25, 2025, at approximately 4:47 p.m., an employee was manually raising a malfunctioning loading dock door when his right middle finger was caught in a pinch point, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
A STERIS installer had uncrated a drying cabinet and was working with a STERIS installation specialist to tilt the cabinet up. As the unit was being tilted up, it slid forward, causing both employees to lose balance. The drying cabinet fell on the installer s right middle finger, resulting in an open fracture and amputation of the distal fingertip.
An employee was operating an automated bagging and packaging machine to bag hydrocolloids. A bag was stuck in the machine. As the employee was removing it, the blade amputated the top of their right index finger.
An employee was walking between a stack of pallets and a rack when they tripped over a pallet and fell to the floor. The employee sustained a left hip fracture.
An employee was checking on a machine outside of the building and removed a cover to clean out a blocked area. His hand was caught by a rotary valve in a dust collection machine. The employee's fingertip was amputated.
An employee was working to clean a glue roller with a scraper tool. The tool and the employee's left thumb were pinched between two rollers, resulting in a partial amputation.
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 securing the claw of a grapple truck to the truck bed. His left little finger was caught between the tie down strap and the rub rail of the truck, resulting in partial amputation of the finger.
An employee was cutting extruded aluminum framing material using a horizontal band saw. She went to grab a rag in the machine when the rag contacted the blade and pulled her hand in toward the blade, resulting in a partial amputation of the right index finger.