In Allentown Pennsylvania, machinery accidents are a common occurrence. In fact, according to the National Safety Council, machinery accidents are the No. 1 cause of death for workers in the United States. And, according to the Allentown Morning Call, these machines can be very dangerous. For example, one of the most common types of machines that cause accidents is the grain elevator. These machines move wheat and other grains around by elevating and lowering them into storage silos or onto trucks. They can be very dangerous if they malfunction or if they’re not operated correctly.
Manufacturing Companies
Allentown Pennsylvania is home to a number of manufacturing companies, including
| Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. Hanson Aggregates Pennsylvania, LLC Praxair Distribution Mid-Atlantic, LLC Agere Systems Inc. The Morning Call LLC Acme Cryogenics, Inc. Marcon Enterprises, Inc. |
Flexlink Systems, Inc. A. L. Bazzini Co., Inc. Bazzini Holdings, LLC Muller Martini Mailroom Systems, Inc. Naura Akrion Inc. Sumitomo (shi) Cryogenics of America, Inc. Precision Roll Grinders, Inc. |
This city is also known for its aerospace industry, which includes companies like Bell Helicopter and United Technologies Corporation.
Machinery Accidents
In recent years, Allentown Pennsylvania has seen many of machinery accidents. Here are some examples:
| AccidentDate | Employer | City | State | Description | Injury | Body Part | Event | Injury Source | Other Injury Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15/11/2021 | Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. | Allentown | Pa | An employee was attempting to unclog a relief line that was piled with sediment on a boiler. When he unclogged it, there was a pressure release, and hot water shot out of the line and contacted the employee's left shoulder and arm, resulting in burns. | Heat (thermal) burns | Shoulder(s) and arm(s) | Contact with hot objects or substances | Water | Machinery |
| 16/09/2021 | AAA East Central - Marcon Boulevard | Allentown | Pa | An employee was using a ladder. The employee stepped on a file cabinet, fell, and suffered a broken leg. She was hospitalized. | Fractures | Leg(s) | Other fall to lower level | Cabinets, cases-display, storage | Nonclassifiable |
| 10/09/2021 | Motts LLP | Allentown | Pa | While parking a stand-up powered industrial truck (PIT) in a designated parking area, the employee's foot was pinched between the operator compartment and a guardrail. The employee's left foot was fractured. | Fractures | Foot (feet) | Part of occupant’s body caught between vehicle and other object in nonroadway transport incident | Forklift, order picker, platform truck-powered | Guardrails, road dividers |
| 15/04/2021 | PPL Electric Utilities | Allentown | Pa | An employee tripped while walking out of a building and fell forward into a door. The employee suffered facial injuries, a dislocated shoulder, and a broken foot. | Fractures and dislocations | Upper and lower limb(s) | Fall onto or against object on same level, n.e.c. | Floors, walkways, ground surfaces | Doors, except garage and vehicle |
| 23/03/2021 | Costco Wholesale | Allentown | Pa | An employee had been stocking the cooler/freezer area. While moving a box, the employee felt a sharp pain. The employee was hospitalized with a bulging disk. | Herniated discs | Back, including spine, spinal cord | Overexertion involving outside sources | Boxes, crates, cartons | |
| 19/03/2021 | United Rentals, Inc. | Allentown | Pa | An employee was transferring gear from one truck to another when he fell off a truck step. He landed on the ground and suffered a broken right hip. | Fractures | Hip(s) | Other fall to lower level less than 6 feet | Truck-motorized freight hauling and utility | Floors, walkways, ground surfaces |
| 22/02/2021 | Cowan Systems LLC | Allentown | Pa | An employee was operating a yard tractor in a parking lot when the yard tractor collided with another yard tractor. The employee sustained fractured ribs and a punctured lung. | Internal injuries to organs and blood vessels of the trunk | Chest, except internal location of diseases or disorders | Nonroadway collision with other vehicle | Industrial vehicle, material hauling and transport-powered, n.e.c | Industrial vehicle, material hauling and transport-powered, n.e.c |
| 18/02/2021 | JACK WILLIAMS TIRE CO INC | Allentown | Pa | An employee slipped and fell in a parking lot, suffering a broken left leg. The employee was hospitalized. | Fractures | Leg(s) | Fall on same level due to slipping | Parking lot-paved | |
| 15/02/2021 | Discovery Senior Living / Rittenhouse Village At Lehigh Valley | Allentown | Pa | An employee fell from a loading dock. Her face struck a dumpster and/or the pavement, and she suffered a split-open nose, a broken femur, and a cut to the head. | Fractures | Thigh(s) | Other fall to lower level less than 6 feet | Ramps, loading docks, dock plates | Parking lot-paved |
| 04/02/2021 | thyssenkrupp Elevator Corp | Allentown | Pa | An employee was disassembling a gearless machine when their left ring finger was pinched by the machine block, resulting in a fingertip amputation. | Amputations | Fingertip(s) | Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects | Machinery | |
| 12/01/2021 | Stanley Black & Decker, Inc | Allentown | Pa | A machine operator was troubleshooting a mechanical press machine. The machine severely lacerated his upper right arm and he was hospitalized. The machine's light curtain was not working at the time. | Cuts, lacerations | Upper arm(s) | Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning | Presses, except printing | |
| 19/10/2020 | PENMAR SYSTEMS, INC | Allentown | Pa | An employee was cleaning the tracks on a machine when a chunk of concrete rolled off a hill and struck him. The employee sustained broken ribs and a broken hip. | Fractures | Multiple trunk locations | Struck by object or equipment rolling freely | Construction debris | |
| 02/10/2020 | United Electric Supply | Allentown | Pa | An electrical contractor was shutting the door to a company vehicle and caught their right thumb in the door latch resulting in amputation of flesh from the thumb tip. | Amputations | Fingertip(s) | Struck by swinging part of powered vehicle | Highway vehicle, motorized | |
| 22/09/2020 | Engelman Construction, Inc. | Allentown | Pa | A wall panel was being removed when it fell on two employees. Both employees were hospitalized for fractures. | Fractures | Nonclassifiable | Struck by falling object or equipment | Building materials-solid elements | |
| 26/08/2020 | Vorteq Coil Finishers, LLC | Allentown | Pa | An employee was rolling a 1,500-pound metal coil. The coil tipped over onto the employee's left ankle, breaking it. | Fractures | Ankle(s) | Struck by falling object or equipment | Reels, rolls, spools, coils, cones | |
| 21/08/2020 | Phoebe Ministries | Allentown | Pa | A pharmacy courier was pushing a med-cart into the facility when the employee lost control, causing the cart and the employee to fall off the edge of a loading dock. The employee was hospitalized for multiple fractures to his right arm. | Fractures | Arm(s) | Other fall to lower level | Ramps, loading docks, dock plates | Floors, walkways, ground surfaces |
| 18/08/2020 | Sharp Corporation | Allentown | Pa | An employee was struck by a car while walking in a parking lot, suffering a broken tibia. | Fractures | Thigh(s) | Pedestrian struck by vehicle in nonroadway area | Automobile | |
| 17/08/2020 | H and L Lab Medicine | Allentown | Pa | An employee hit his head on the inside of his car. He was hospitalized, suffering from brain bleeding. | Cerebral and other intracranial hemorrhages | Brain | Struck against stationary object or equipment | Automobile | |
| 03/08/2020 | PPL Electric Utilities, Lehigh Service center | Allentown | Pa | An employee slipped and fell in an office hallway, landing on the tile floor, and suffering a broken kneecap. | Fractures | Knee(s) | Fall on same level due to slipping | Floor | |
| 01/08/2020 | BAZZINI HOLDINGS LLC | Allentown | Pa | An employee slipped on a wet floor and struck the back of their head on the floor, resulting in hospitalization. | Intracranial injuries | Brain | Fall on same level due to slipping | Floor | Liquids |
| 31/07/2020 | Pietrini Contractors, Inc. | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was moving material from a loading dock to the seventh-floor level via hoist. He became dizzy, began to sweat heavily, and could not stand. He was hospitalized, suffering from dehydration and an elevated heart rate possibly due to heat exposure. | Effects of heat and light, n.e.c. | BODY SYSTEMS | Exposure to environmental heat | Heat-environmental | |
| 29/07/2020 | Packaging Corp. of America | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee's foot caught a photo eye on a conveyor. He fell, his face striking an electrical box mounted on a hydraulic unit. He suffered a broken bone in the face, a lost tooth, and a facial laceration. | Avulsions, enucleations | Tooth (teeth) | Fall on same level due to tripping over an object | Floor | Conveyors-powered |
| 29/05/2020 | Sodexo | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was moving a food cart down a cement ramp on a loading dock. She tripped and fell to the ground at the bottom of the ramp, and the cart landed (upright) on her ankle. She suffered a fractured vertebra in her back. | Fractures | Thoracic region | Fall on same level due to tripping | Ramps, loading docks, dock plates | |
| 22/05/2020 | HCR ManorCare Health Services West Allen | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee tripped on a mouse cord while standing up from a desk. The employee fell to the floor, suffering a broken humerus. | Fractures | Upper arm(s) | Fall on same level due to tripping over an object | Floor | Power cords, electrical cords, extension cords |
| 13/04/2020 | Northampton Regional EMS | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was treating a patient in the back of an ambulance. The ambulance stopped quickly and the employee suffered a fractured C7 vertebra and bruises. | Fractures | Neck, except internal location of diseases or disorders | Sudden start or stop, roadway | Ambulance, police, and other emergency passenger vehicle | |
| 05/03/2020 | Filmtech Corp. | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was threading a production line with plastic. The employee's head was caught and injured between two rollers. | Intracranial injuries | Brain | Caught in running equipment or machinery | Machinery | |
| 21/01/2020 | Lehigh Valley Hospital | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was carrying a surgical scope into an operating room. She tripped over a part of the surgical table and fell, breaking her right ankle. | Fractures | Ankle(s) | Fall on same level due to tripping over an object | Floor | Tables, worktables |
| 15/01/2020 | Sharp Corporation | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was entering a locker room when she was hit by the door as another employee was exiting the locker room. She suffered a contusion to her face near the right eye. | Bruises, contusions | Face | Struck by or caught in swinging door or gate | Doors, except garage and vehicle | |
| 31/08/2019 | KidsPeace Corporation | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee fell down a hill while walking with clients, hitting the ground and suffering impact injuries. | Traumatic injuries and disorders | Nonclassifiable | Other fall to lower level | Hills | |
| 10/08/2019 | Bazzini LLC | Allentown | Pennsylvania | While cleaning a pump motor an employee's middle fingertip was amputated. The motor was running at the time. | Amputations | Fingertip(s) | Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning | Pumps | |
| 07/08/2019 | Asplundh Tree Expert, LLC | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An arborist was working in a tree, approximately 30 feet above grade, when a felled branch contacted a single-phase electrical line. This caused the employee to sustain an electrical shock and burns. | Electrical burns | Nonclassifiable | Indirect exposure to electricity, greater than 220 volts | Limbs, branches-unattached | Power lines, transformers, convertors |
| 31/07/2019 | St. Luke's Hospital | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was pulling a trash bag out of a trash bin that is on a wheeled base. The employee fell and fractured a kneecap. | Fractures | Knee(s) | Fall on same level | Floors, walkways, ground surfaces | |
| 24/07/2019 | Vorteq Coil Finishers LLC | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was wiping off a machine's safety guard while the bottom side rolls were forward coating. Part of his rag dropped into the nip and sucked his hand into the rolls, de-gloving his left index finger. | Avulsions, enucleations | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning | Painting, priming, metal coating machinery | Brooms, mops, and other cleaning tools |
| 16/07/2019 | AMCOR PET PACKAGING | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee walking down a landing, slipped, and fell on the floor, breaking a wrist and the left ankle. | Fractures | Upper and lower limb(s) | Fall on same level due to slipping | Floor | |
| 01/07/2019 | Eshbach Brothers, LP | Allentown | Pennsylvania | A lift was being used to place a stack of ten scaffold planks on an erected scaffold. Several planks fell off the lift and hit an employee, pinning the employee's leg between the planks and construction equipment. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured leg. | Fractures | Leg(s) | Struck by object falling from vehicle or machinery-other than vehicle part | Building materials | Industrial vehicle, material hauling and transport-powered, n.e.c |
| 22/05/2019 | Cast-Pac, Inc. | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was loading a coupling into an assembler when the employee's right index fingertip entered the pinch point as the machine cycled, resulting in a fingertip amputation. | Amputations | Fingertip(s) | Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation | Product assembly machinery | |
| 17/05/2019 | Alvin H. Butz, Inc. | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was using a toe kick saw to cut flooring when it struck a nail and kicked back. The employee's fingers were caught in the blade resulting in amputation of his right index finger. | Amputations | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Injured by slipping or swinging object held by injured worker | Saws-powered, except chainsaws | Nails, brads, tacks, nuts, bolts, washers |
| 11/05/2019 | Fuling Plastic USA, Inc. | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was moving straws from one side to the other of a hopper when the employee's hand slipped into the conveyor, resulting in a right middle finger amputation. | Amputations | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation | Conveyors-powered | |
| 11/04/2019 | OREFIELD COLD STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION CENTER, INC | Allentown | Pennsylvania | Two forklifts were being driven, one behind the other, when the first forklift stopped. The second forklift's fork went through the first forklift's cab, injuring an employee's left foot. | Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury | Foot (feet) | Collision between a moving and standing vehicle, nonroadway | Forklift, order picker, platform truck-powered | Forklift, order picker, platform truck-powered |
| 03/04/2019 | DevonHouse Senior Living | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was helping a resident shower when the resident dropped a tissue. As the employee bent over to pick the tissue up, the employee suffered back pain due to two herniated discs, requiring hospitalization. | Herniated discs | Back, including spine, spinal cord | Bending, crawling, reaching, twisting-single episode | Bodily motion or position of injured, ill worker | |
| 27/02/2019 | Lineage Logistics Allentown | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was case picking when she tripped over a piece of wood sticking out of a pallet on the floor. She fell to the concrete floor, suffering broken vertebrae. | Fractures | Nonclassifiable | Fall on same level due to tripping over an object | Floor | Skids, pallets |
| 13/02/2019 | LEHIGH VALLEY HOSPITAL | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee fell on a snow-covered embankment, suffering a broken ankle. | Fractures | Ankle(s) | Fall on same level due to slipping | Embankments | Ice, sleet, snow |
| 06/02/2019 | Windkits LLC | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee suffered a left middle fingertip amputation while operating a production machine. The machine was guarded at the time of the incident. | Amputations | Fingertip(s) | Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation | Machinery | |
| 04/01/2019 | UTZ Quality Foods, LLC. | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was bending down to lift a pallet when pain caused his back to seize up and he fell backwards. He suffered a back strain or possible disk injury, requiring hospitalization. | Traumatic injuries to muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, etc. | Back, including spine, spinal cord | Overexertion in lifting-single episode | Skids, pallets | |
| 17/09/2018 | Heim Construction, Inc. | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was using a circular saw to cut a wood wedge when the saw struck a knot in the wood and kicked back, partially amputating the employee's thumb tip. | Amputations | Fingertip(s) | Injured by slipping or swinging object held by injured worker | Saws-powered, except chainsaws | |
| 07/09/2018 | Sharp Corporation | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was manually moving a belt on an HVAC unit when three of the employee's fingers were pinched and amputated between the belt and pulley. | Amputations | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment | Heating, cooling, and cleaning machinery and appliances | |
| 27/08/2018 | Pinnacle Logistics | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was walking near a tug that was pulling a dolly with a DQF when the DQF slipped off the dolly and struck her arm, breaking it. | Fractures | Arm(s) | Struck by object falling from vehicle or machinery-other than vehicle part | Containers-nonpressurized | Airport utility vehicle-powered |
| 20/08/2018 | Allen Distribution | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee turned to walk and slipped, twisting and fracturing her ankle in three places. | Fractures | Ankle(s) | Slip without fall, n.e.c. | Bodily motion or position of injured, ill worker | |
| 01/08/2018 | T-Mobile | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was performing maintenance at a cell site when a bug landed on the employee's chin and stung him. He went to his vehicle and observed that the bite started to swell. He was hospitalized. | Poisoning, toxic, noxious, or allergenic effect | BODY SYSTEMS | Stings and venomous bites | Insects, arachnids, mites | |
| 05/06/2018 | Salisbury Behavioral Health, Inc. | Allentown | Pennsylvania | An employee was bitten by a client's dog during an in-home treatment session, requiring hospitalization. | Puncture wounds, except gunshot wounds | Nonclassifiable | Other animal bites, nonvenomous | Dogs, canines-domestic | |
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All of these cases underscore the importance of having up-to-date safety equipment in place and following all manufacturer’s instructions. If you or someone you know has been injured as a result of a machinery accident in Allentown Pennsylvania, please do not hesitate to contact an attorney.