Accident: 170361430 - Arm Infected After Injury At Fruit Plant

At 12 midnight on September, 28, 1999, Employee #1, who worked as a quality assurance inspector at fruit processing plants, scraped her left elbow on the top of an analyzing table, sustaining an injury similar to a "rug burn." She went to bed at 4:00 a.m. and awoke at 5:00 a.m. to find her elbow swollen. Employee #1 went to her personal physician, who gave her antibiotics for an infection. She also saw the worker's compensation doctor, who increased the dosage of antibiotics. The inflammation continued to worsen, and Employee #1 was admitted to the hospital for intravenous antibiotic treatment. She was released on October. 4, 1999. Although her condition continues to slowly improve, Employee #1 is still experiencing burning and tingling as of April 6, 2000.

abrasion, agriculture, struck against, elbow, fruit packing

Accident: 119957801 - Injured By Backing Industrial Truck Cart

At approximately 6:10 p.m. on February 2, 1999, Employee #1 was seriously injured when an industrial truck utility cart was backed into him and pinned him against a rail car. He sustained abrasions and contusions, and was hospitalized for three days.

abrasion, contusion, backing up, struck by, pinned, caught between, inattention, industrial truck, cart, railroad car

Accident: 801910 - Nine Employees Injured By Falling Debris From Roof

Employees #1 through #9 were performing their normal job duties while a contractor was using a crane to replace the air conditioning system on the roof. When the contractor turned the machine to the left, the crane boom broke. A jib fell onto the roof and knocked a hole in it. Debris rained down on Employees #1 through #9, all of whom sustained minor cuts, bruises, and abrasions.

crane, crane boom, roof, struck by, falling object, abrasion, contusion, laceration, equipment failure, struck against

Accident: 735423 - Injured In Fall Into Basin At Wastewater Plant

Employee #1, a wastewater treatment operator trainee, was conducting a routine water test at a secondary gallery distribution box (basin) at a sewer treatment plant. The 60 ft by 40 ft by 18 ft deep box was a below-ground chamber enclosed by a concrete slab and filled with approximately 12 ft of water. Employee #1 was stepping onto a 49 by 24 in. section of grate (one section of a grid) covering the box when the section moved from its outer support channel and fell into the basin. He remained conscious and held onto a cable inside the box for approximately 2 hours, when he was pulled out by fellow operators. Employee #1 was wearing a hardhat and rubber gloves and was using a handheld dissolved oxygen meter. He threw his hardhat onto the ground above the box, where it was discovered by rescuers. Employee #1 was hospitalized with strains, abrasions, numbness of his right shoulder and forearm, and an infected lung. A hepatitis vaccine was also administered.

fall, waste proc fac, sprain, abrasion, lung, unstable surface, unsecured, grating, cover, work rules

Accident: 200330066 - Injured In Trench Cave-In

At approximately 3:00 p.m. on August 25, 1997, Employee #1 and coworkers, of Scott Olson Digging, Inc., were installing a fire hydrant. They were in an approximately 7 ft deep by 6 ft wide trench with nearly vertical side walls when a portion of the trench wall caved in. Employee #1 was partially buried and suffered a separated pelvis and multiple abrasions and lacerations. He was rescued from the trench and transported to a hospital in Sioux Falls.

construction, trench, sloping, cave-in, work rules, buried, pelvis, abrasion, laceration

Accident: 200740207 - Arm Injured In Packing Machine

Employee #1 was using a Powell auto bagging machine to bag apples. The machine weighed out a certain amount of fruit at the far right end and then dumped the sorted fruit onto a conveyor belt that rolled the fruit off the edge of the conveyor and into a plastic bag. The frame that held the bag then automatically grabbed the top of the bag and forced it forward into a pinch point area where it was automatically tied with a twist tie. At the time of the accident, a bag had became jammed in the frame area. Employee #1 was reaching in to free the bag when the machine cycled and the frame moved forward, pinching her arm. She tried to push the frame back with her other arm and hand, but could not. Employee #1 sustained multiple abrasions and contusions, and a hematoma in the right arm.

agriculture, fruit packing, nip point, jammed, abrasion, contusion, arm, work rules, caught by

Accident: 170132310 - Injured In 50 Ft Fall From Tree

At 8:30 a.m. on or about July 15, 1997, a crew was felling a Ponderosa pine tree from which the limbs had already been removed. Employee #1 had not left himself any branches to rappel down, so he cut a notch in the top of the 50 ft tall tree, inserted his rappel line, and jumped out. The bight of the rappel line came out of the notch and he fell to the ground. Employee #1 suffered a severed spinal cord, a broken back, a fractured pelvis, multiple cuts and abrasions.

severed, fall, abrasion, laceration, back, spine, fracture, tree felling, unsecured, rappelling

Accident: 170633861 - Forearm Injured When Caught In Laminator Rollers

At approximately 2:45 p.m. on June 25, 1997, Employee #1 of Tenneco Packaging, was feeding a 15 in. by 30 5/8 in. sheet on a general laminator when his left hand became caught under the unguarded roller. He suffered an abrasion and contusions on his left forearm. Employee #1 was taken to Downey Medical Center, where he was treated and released to return to work.

hand, forearm, caught by, roller--mach/part, abrasion, contusion, unguarded, work rules, nip point

Accident: 201060654 - Injured In Fall Through Floor

Employee #1, of Majestic Marble and Tile, was laying tile on the fifth floor guard station of a building. After finishing that room, he started mixing mortar and setting up to continue working on another floor. Employee #1 went up and down the stairway between four and five times, carrying up his tools. During one of these trips, he caught sight of a room off to the side that looked different. The doors were open, and there were no warning signs on them. When Employee #1 stepped into the dark room he fell between 35 and 40 ft down a mechanical shaft to the fourth floor, landing on metal ducting. He sustained a broken right toe, a puncture wound to his left shin, a laceration on his forehead, and multiple abrasions. Employee #1 was taken to the UCSD Medical Center, where he was hospitalized for approximately two days.

construction, warning sign, shaft, fall, unguarded, barrier guard, leg, puncture, abrasion, work rules

Accident: 170847586 - Injured In Fall From Conveyor Belt Into Sorter

Employee #1 was operating an inclined conveyor in a surface mine when the conveyor became overloaded and stalled. He climbed onto it and was shoveling out excess sand and gravel when the conveyor started to roll backward. Employee #1 fell and was pulled into the sorter up to his shoulders. He became trapped and had to be extricated by rescue personnel. Employee #1 was hospitalized for two days with cuts, bruises, and abrasions to his back and side. After his release from the hospital, he underwent outpatient treatment and skin grafting on his right arm.

conveyor, conveyor belt, lost balance, fall, lockout, contusion, abrasion, skin, work rules, overloaded

Accident: 200960730 - Injured In Fall Onto Scaffold

Employee #1 had just finished laying seven courses of 8 in. by 16 in. by 12 in. block around a steel door frame. He picked up his tools and was preparing to go to his next assignment. He stepped underneath the braces that held the steel door in place and tripped over the 2 by 4 anchored into the concrete deck and that served as the frame's base. Employee #1 fell 7 ft 1 in. onto a scaffold. He sustained contusions, strains, and abrasions.

construction, tripped, fall, abrasion, contusion, bracing, scaffold, floor opening, unguarded fl opening, work rules

Accident: 170133284 - Arm Injured When Caught In Glue Spreader Rolls

Employee #1 was cleaning the rolls of a glue spreader used in laminating 4 ft by 8 ft wooden panels. While working near the running 8 3/4 in. diameter rolls, his right arm became caught in the nip point and was pulled into the machine. Employee #1 activated the safety control arm, which reversed the rolls and ran his arm back out of the machine. He was transported to the hospital, where he was treated for severe abrasions.

work rules, roller--mach/part, nip point, lockout, abrasion, cleaning, caught by, arm

Accident: 170123012 - One Killed In Fall From Metal Tower, One On Ground Injured

Employee #1, age 19, was at a height of 115 ft installing antenna hardware and coaxial cable on a cellular telephone tower. Employee #2 was on the ground, handling a rope that was tied to Employee #1. Employee #1 suddenly fell from the tower while attached to the upper portion of the rope. He was killed. Employee #2 attempted to grip the rope and sustained serious rope abrasion injuries to both hands.

fall, tower, tie-off, fall protection, installing, hand, abrasion, communication tower, telecom work, rope

Accident: 790915 - Arm Injured When Caught Between Rollers

Employee #1 was a new employee at a lamination plant and had just completed his first full day of work with a portable glue roller (top and bottom adhesive spreader). At the end of the day, the employee and a leadman were being shown how to clean the machine. Once the job was nearly finished, the leadman stepped away while Employee #1 brushed down the moving rollers with a wooden-handled wire brush. His left arm became caught and was pulled between the applicator rollers up to his shoulder. He suffered contusions and abrasions and was hospitalized.

roller--mach/part, caught between, contusion, inexperience, arm, cleaning, abrasion

Accident: 170899843 - Injured When Struck By Falling Wooden Crate

On September 6, 1996, Employee #1 was leaving the walk-in freezer just as a coworker, who was stacking wooden crates, knocked one off the overhead storage area. The crate hit a shelf, bounced off, and struck Employee #1 on the back. She sustained contusions and abrasions and was transported to St. Joseph's Hospital, where she was treated and then released to return to work.

struck by, falling object, back, contusion, abrasion, crate, unsecured, manual mat handling

Accident: 201100146 - Injured When Caught By Rotating Shaft

Employee #1, who worked for a retail clothing store, was getting some fixtures from a room that also housed the store's HVAC system. As she walked past it, her loosely hanging silk blouse, became entangled in the end of its drive shaft for the HVAC system. Employee #1 was pulled backward into the side of the machine. She was able to pull loose of the 1 in. diameter rotating shaft when her blouse tore, but Employee #1 sustained abrasions and contusions to her left elbow and knee. The rotating shaft projected out 2 1/2 in., and it had a smooth, rounded edge that was longer than one-half its diameter.

clothing, entangled, caught by, work rules, rotating shaft, abrasion, contusion, elbow, knee, unguarded

Accident: 170826879 - Injured When Caught In Buffing Machine

Employee #1, an operator's assistant, was drawn into a buffing machine that polished rolled metal products. He sustained severe abrasions to his head and arm. The machine was unguarded at the point of operation, where there was an in-going nip point. It was unclear why the point of operation was unguarded or how Employee #1 was drawn into it.

abrasion, head, arm, unguarded, point of operation, nip point, caught by, work rules

Accident: 201030236 - Hand Injured When Caught In Stacker

On July 20, 1996, Employee #1, who worked for an asphalt shingle manufacturer, was clearing a jam from the #3 stacker, which counted and stacked piles of shingles that were later palletized. As he was clearing shingles from the top starwheels of the stacker and the delivery belt conveyor that fed the stacker, his gloved left hand became caught in the running belt. The fingers of his left hand became wedged between the delivery belt and the feed chute of the #3 stacker, resulting in an abrasion of the soft tissue that required skin grafting. Employee #1 did not hit the local STOP button, which would have de-energized the delivery belt conveyor and #3 stacker. The company had installed a limit switch on the guard gate for the #3 stacker that de-energized it when the guard gate was opened (as it must be to clear a jam), but the limit switch did not de-energize the delivery belt conveyor.

jammed, finger, caught between, belt conveyor, abrasion, stop switch, lockout, glove, conveyor belt, work rules

Accident: 898536 - Dies After Suspected Fall From Ladder Or Roof

On May 14, 1996, Employee #1 asked three coworkers to bring him back a sandwich when they left a job site to get some lunch. Upon returning, the coworkers found Employee #1 lying face down approximately 7 ft from the base of a metal ladder that was extended approximately 32 ft to the roof. He did not respond when addressed and there was no discernible pulse or respiratory activity. A trickle of blood was coming from the employee's nose and he had minor elbow abrasions, but there was very little evidence of trauma consistent with having fallen from the ladder or the roof.

fall, abrasion, construction, extension ladder, roof, fall protection, work rules

Accident: 170726004 - Hand Injured When Pulled Into Wood Sander

On March 9, 1996, Employee #1, age 18, was using on a Sanding Master sanding machine while working for a furniture manufacturer. His gloved hand was pulled into a 2 in. by 4 ft wide horizontal slot on the infeed side of the sander. It then became caught between the infeed conveyor and a 1 ft by 2 ft by 2 in. wooden board that was to be sanded. He suffered tearing injuries to his right hand and arm abrasions. The conveyor was missing the end cover, which usually supports the work to be sanded so that the operator can place the piece and let go. The lack of this cover, combined with the added friction from Employee #1's wearing gloves, made his hand more susceptible to becoming trapped between the wooden board and the conveyor.

sanding machine, hand, arm, abrasion, glove, clothing, caught between, unguarded, conveyor, work rules