Exposure through intact tissue · Chemical burns, corrosions degree unspecified
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Ergon Trucking, Inc., 4585 Industrial Road, JACKSON, ALABAMA 36501
on — Chemical burns, corrosions degree unspecified, affecting the Head and extremities.
Final narrative
An employee was unloading sodium hydroxide from a tanker car. The hose connecting the tank and the tanker truck ruptured. The chemical sprayed onto the employee, who suffered burns to the face and legs.
Hospitalized Head and extremities Lye, alkali metal hydroxides
Employee was attempting to close a manually propelled gate associated with a fence system. The conditions were cold and icy. The weather conditions were making it difficult for him to close the gate. The employee had to get extra leverage on the gate to get it closed. He reached up around/near the gate's rollers as he applied extra leverage to the gate with his body. The gate suddenly gave way and the employee's finger became trapped in a pinch point created by the gate's roller and the horizontal bar the roller slides across. His fingertip was amputated by the pinch point between the roller and the bar.
An employee was removing a hose from a chemical tank after filling the tank with hexamethylenediamine (HMD). He checked the line to ensure that the hose was clear, then disconnected the hose at the connection. Residual chemical sprayed onto his face, causing a second-degree burn. He was hospitalized.
A shipping/receiving operator was working on a loading rack, loading a railcar. A 2-inch discharge cap failed and released pressure along with sulfuric acid from the railcar. The acid sprayed onto the employee, who suffered burns to the chest and the lower facial area. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was pressure washing truck scales when they were splashed with water and an unknown chemical on their leg and immediately experienced a burning sensation. The employee was hospitalized with a chemical burn and required surgery.
An employee was on a ladder disconnecting a 1-inch hose, known to have last carried acrylic acid that had been drained. When the hose was disconnected, residual acid dripped onto the employee's shoulder/arm area, causing a second-degree chemical burn.
Employees were removing scaffolding that was used to repair an ion exchange tank. The line was undergoing the regen process when a piece of scaffold struck a PVC pipe that transported hydrochloric acid (HCl). The injured employee was placing material inside a scaffold rack when he was sprayed in the face with HCl and sustained chemical burns to his eyes, face, chest, right arm, and left leg.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 484121)
An employee fell while exiting a trailer. The employee landed on their left side on the pavement, suffering multiple broken ribs on the left side. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was hooking up a set of 28-foot trailers, attaching a converter dolly to the lead trailer's pintle hook. He backed up the lead trailer and parked it a foot from the converter dolly, then lifted the converter dolly and rolled it to the lead trailer to set it onto the hook. The converter dolly kicked up, and the employee's left hand was caught between it and the trailer. He suffered a severe laceration to the palm between the ring finger and middle finger.
An employee was cleaning the windshield of his truck. When he stepped down from the truck, he lost balance and reached to catch himself using the side mirror. The impact fractured his left wrist. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was standing on the DOT bumper on the back of a standard 53-foot trailer. The employee lost his footing and his grip on the handle bar, and fell approximately 42 inches to the ground. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured left hip/femur.
A driver was making a delivery. As he was climbing onto his trailer to get boxes, the strap he was using to pull himself up broke. He fell from the back of the trailer to the ground, landing on his right leg and breaking his femur.
An employee was traveling down the maintenance aisle of a warehouse on a single-pallet front rider jack. The jack malfunctioned, causing the brakes to apply; the employee fell forward onto the concrete warehouse floor. The employee suffered an injury to the left leg and was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
An employee was operating a metal roller machine to roll a small piece of metal. The employee's right index finger became caught between the metal and the machine, and the fingertip was amputated.
An employee was directing a truck driver to a dump site when the truck's peanut trailer slipped off the kingpin. As the trailer fell, a ladder attached to it lacerated the employee's ear. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was unloading a forklift from a trailer to the ground. The employee was climbing down the ladder of the trailer when their foot slipped through one of the rungs, causing them to fall backward onto the forklift forks. The employee was hospitalized for fractured ribs.