In Birmingham, Alabama, machinery accidents are a common occurrence. In fact, according to The Business Journal, the city has the third highest number of machinery accidents in the county. This is likely because Birmingham is a major industrial area and there are many factories and other businesses in the city. Many of these accidents happen because workers are not properly trained in how to use the equipment. They may not know how to operate it properly or they may not have been given enough training. In some cases, the machines may be old and outdated, and workers may not be able to handle them safely. If you are injured in a machinery accident in Birmingham, you may want to speak with an attorney. He or she can help you understand your rights and potential legal options.
Manufacturing & Industrial Companies
There are many different manufacturing companies located in Birmingham Alabama. Some of these companies include:
| Vulcan Materials Company Ebsco Industries, Inc. Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Inc. Drummond Company, Inc. Legacy Vulcan, LLC Altec, Inc. Altec Industries, Inc. |
McWane, Inc. Dunn Investment Company Ligon Industries, LLC PS Logistics, LLC Ready Mix Usa, LLC Truck Bodies & Equipment International, Inc. Royal Cup Inc. |
With so many different types of manufacturing companies located in one area, it is not surprising that there have been a number of machinery accidents in Birmingham Alabama. Regardless of the cause, these accidents highlight the need for safety precautions at manufacturing companies in Birmingham Alabama. Workers need to be properly trained on how to use the machinery they are working with and companies need to make sure that their machinery is well-maintained and safe to use.
Machinery Accidents
It is no secret that accidents happen every day in the city of Birmingham, Alabama. Whether it is a car accident, a slip and fall, or something else entirely, accidents are unfortunately a part of life. While some accidents are minor and cause little more than a inconvenience, others are much more serious – even deadly.
One type of accident that can fall into either category is a machinery accident. Machinery accidents can occur in any type of setting, from construction sites to factories to office buildings. They can be caused by a variety of factors, such as operator error, malfunctioning equipment, or poor safety protocols.
In Birmingham, Alabama, there have been a number of machinery accidents over the years. Some of these have resulted in minor injuries while others have been fatal. Here are just a few examples:
| AccidentDate | Employer | City | State | Description | Injury | Body Part | Event | Injury Source | Other Injury Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15/10/2021 | MarJam Supply Company | Birmingham | Al | An employee was helping to spot for a flatbed truck that was backing up beside a boom truck. The employee's right arm was pinned between the two truck beds; the elbow was crushed and fractured. The employee was hospitalized. | Fractures | Elbow(s) | Pedestrian struck by vehicle backing up in nonroadway area | Semi, tractor-trailer, tanker truck | |
| 12/10/2021 | Brookwood Baptist Medical Center | Birmingham | Al | An employee was rolling the chair she was sitting in toward a counter. The wheel of the chair locked up, and she fell from the chair to the floor. She suffered a broken left femur. | Fractures | Thigh(s) | Fall while sitting | Chairs | |
| 27/09/2021 | O'Neal Steel, LLC | Birmingham | Al | An employee was lifting steel plates with an overhead crane. The steel plates struck the employee in the face resulting in a broken jaw and fractured teeth. | Fractures | Multiple face locations | Struck by swinging or slipping object, other than handheld, n.e.c. | Cranes-gantry, overhead, monorail, container | |
| 23/09/2021 | Lowes Home Center LLC | Birmingham | Al | An employee was standing on a rolling staircase ladder to retrieve an item from an upper shelf. The employee missed a step and fell from the ladder to the floor, fracturing his hips and ribs. | Fractures | Multiple trunk locations | Other fall to lower level | Movable ladders | Floor, n.e.c. |
| 08/09/2021 | Drummond Company, Inc. | Birmingham | Al | An employee was mudding the door on an oven. The employee fell approximately 15 feet from the mud cart to the concrete floor on the next lower level. The employee sustained fractured ribs, thoracic spine, and teeth. | Fractures | Head and trunk | Other fall to lower level 11 to 15 feet | Nonclassifiable | Floor, n.e.c. |
| 03/09/2021 | Kinder Morgan Marine Terminal Birmingham | Birmingham | Al | An employee was changing an oil filter on a material handler while standing on the tire of the material handler. The tire rotated, causing the employee to lose balance and jump three feet to the ground below. The employee sustained a broken foot. | Fractures | Foot (feet) | Other jump to lower level less than 6 feet | Material and personnel handling machinery | Floors, walkways, ground surfaces |
| 02/09/2021 | Alabama Metal Industries Corporation | Birmingham | Al | An employee was pushing expanded metal material through a leveler when the glove on their left hand became caught on rollers. Three left hand fingers were crushed in the rollers. The employee required medical amputation of the index finger to the proximal joint and amputation of the middle finger to the middle joint. The left ring finger and thumb were lacerated. | Amputations | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation | Bending, rolling, shaping machinery | Belts, gloves, neckties, scarves |
| 24/08/2021 | Saiia Construction Co LLC. | Birmingham | Al | An employee was operating a zero-turn lawnmower when it ran over a pipe, lodging the pipe between the deck and the ground. As he was trying to remove the pipe, the lawnmower fell and struck his finger. He suffered an amputation. | Amputations | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Struck by other falling powered vehicle | Lawn mowers-riding | Pipes, ducts, tubing |
| 24/08/2021 | Mill Steel Company | Birmingham | Al | Two employees were working together to rotate the arbor on a slitter and tape the slitter rubbers. As an employee was taping the rubbers, the rotating arbor grabbed his left hand and pulled his index and middle fingers into a pinch point. Both fingers were amputated. | Amputations | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning | Bending, rolling, shaping machinery | |
| 07/08/2021 | Hinkle Roofing Products, Inc. | Birmingham | Al | An employee was checking a roof to make sure it was covered and dried in before it started to rain. He slipped on the way to a ladder and fell off the roof, breaking bones in his leg. | Fractures | Leg(s) | Other fall to lower level | Roofs | Rain |
| 27/07/2021 | Revere Control Systems Inc. | Birmingham | Al | An employee opened the door of an enclosure and, while looking at a termination, was struck in the right eye by a disconnect panel shaft. The eye was injured. | Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury | Eye(s) | Contact with objects and equipment | Nonclassifiable | |
| 23/07/2021 | SA Recycling LLC | Birmingham | Al | A temporary employee was standing on a conveyor when an alarm went off, signaling that a shredder was about to start up. The employee, startled, rolled off the conveyor and fell to the ground about 8-10 feet below. He suffered a broken pelvis and was hospitalized. | Fractures | Pelvis | Other fall to lower level 6 to 10 feet | Conveyors-powered | Floors, walkways, ground surfaces |
| 13/07/2021 | Birmingham & Associates, Inc. | Birmingham | Al | The injured employee was putting on skylight covers and fell 24 feet to the ground. The employee sustained a broken arm, leg, and pelvis. Fall protection was not connected at the time. | Fractures | Multiple body parts | Fall to lower level | Roofs | Floors, walkways, ground surfaces |
| 13/07/2021 | Metalplate Galvanizing, L.P. - Plant 2 | Birmingham | Al | An employee was working with steel frames. He was cutting wires when the frames fell on him resulting in a fractured right femur and a fractured left leg. The employee was hospitalized for surgery. | Fractures | Leg(s) | Struck by falling object or equipment | Nonclassifiable | |
| 19/05/2021 | American Packaging Corporation | Birmingham | Al | An employee was working on a machine when his right hand was caught in a nip/pinch point. Fingers on the hand were injured, and the index fingertip was amputated. | Amputations | Fingertip(s) | Caught in running equipment or machinery | Machinery | |
| 14/05/2021 | B.L. HARBERT INTERNATIONAL, LLC | Birmingham | Al | An employee was cutting 2x6 lumber with a circular saw and amputated their right thumb. | Amputations | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Injured by slipping or swinging object held by injured worker | Saws-powered, except chainsaws | |
| 10/05/2021 | Consolidated Pipe & Supply Company, Inc. | Birmingham | Al | A temporary employee was manually rolling an 8-inch pipe to the end of the pipe rack when the pipe rolled over his thumb, breaking it. The left thumb was medically amputated at the middle joint. | Amputations | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Struck by rolling object or equipment being pushed by injured worker | Pipes, ducts, tubing | |
| 05/05/2021 | Tuscaloosa Lumber Remanufacturing, Inc. | Birmingham | Al | An employee was feeding a piece of lumber into the saw machine. A loaded piece of lumber kicked back, causing the lumber the employee was holding to strike him in the abdomen, resulting in bruising to the abdomen and a tear to his small intestine. The employee was hospitalized. | Internal injuries to organs and blood vessels of the trunk | Abdomen, except internal location of diseases or disorders | Injured by slipping or swinging object held by injured worker | Wood, lumber | Wood, lumber |
| 20/04/2021 | Iron Mountain Construction, L.L.C. | Birmingham | Al | An employee fell through a skylight on a roof, landing on the ground below and suffering a back injury. | Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury | Back, including spine, spinal cord | Fall through surface or existing opening | Skylights | Floors, walkways, ground surfaces |
| 23/03/2021 | Diversified Maintenance - RWS, LLC | Birmingham | Al | An employee was using a table saw to cut a piece of wood. The wood jumped, causing the sawblade to amputate the employee's middle finger. | Amputations | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Struck against moving part of machinery or equipment | Table saws | |
| 09/03/2021 | Interior Exterior Building Supply | Birmingham | Al | An employee was strapping a load on a flatbed truck in a parking lot. Another truck ran over his right foot as it left the parking lot. He suffered a crushing injury, a contusion, a broken second toe, and a dislocation of the first toe. | Fractures and dislocations | Toes(s), toenail(s) | Pedestrian struck by vehicle in nonroadway area | Truck-motorized freight hauling and utility | |
| 03/03/2021 | Wheeler Material Handling Inc. | Birmingham | Al | A technician was prying a reach assembly on a reach truck with a pry bar, trying to extend the reach assembly. The pry bar slipped and the reach assembly closed back on the employee's right hand breaking it. | Fractures | Hand(s) | Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment | Forklift, order picker, platform truck-powered | Crowbars |
| 24/02/2021 | Mario Rivera | Birmingham | Al | An employee was on a 32 ft. scaffold. He stepped on a walk board and the walk board slipped, causing him to fall approximately 28 feet to the ground. He was hospitalized with a hairline fracture to vertebrae. | Fractures | Nonclassifiable | Fall through surface or existing opening 26 to 30 feet | Scaffolds-staging | Floors, walkways, ground surfaces |
| 29/01/2021 | AAA Cooper Transportation | Birmingham | Al | An employee was loading a pallet onto the trailer using a forklift when his left foot was pinned between the forklift and the pallet resulting in a broken foot. | Fractures | Foot (feet) | Part of occupant’s body caught between vehicle and other object in nonroadway transport incident | Forklift, order picker, platform truck-powered | Skids, pallets |
| 28/01/2021 | Berger US, Inc. | Birmingham | Al | An employee was operating a ring rolling machine when he noticed a cut off slug had fallen into the overlap press. He pressed the quit button on the controller to stop the machine. He then reached into the overlap press to clear the debris and the press crushed the two middle fingers on his right hand, resulting in a partial amputation of the two fingers just below the fingernail. | Amputations | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning | Rolling mills, rolling, calendering machinery | |
| 28/01/2021 | Restocon Corporation | Birmingham | Al | The injured employee was assisting with mixing concrete by adding water to the mix while another employee was using a mixing drill. The injured employee's sweater got caught in the mixing drill chuck, resulting in a broken right arm. | Fractures | Arm(s) | Injured by slipping or swinging object held by other person | Drills-powered | Clothing, n.e.c. |
| 16/01/2021 | Ventura Foods, LLC | Birmingham | Al | An employee filled a 55-gallon trash can with chemicals for cleaning and attempted to move the trash can when the liquid splashed. As the employee attempted to avoid the liquid, he tripped and liquid splashed onto him, resulting in chemical burns on the right side of his torso. | Chemical burns and corrosions | Trunk | Exposure through intact skin, eyes, or other exposed tissue | Cleaning and polishing agents | |
| 20/10/2020 | American Cast Iron Pipe Company | Birmingham | Al | An employee was trying to roll a crossed iron pipe back into the fixed metal pipe saddle. He lost his balance and as he tried to catch himself, his index finger was caught between the pipe and the pipe saddle crushing it. The fingertip was surgically amputated at the first knuckle. His middle and ring fingers sustained contusions. | Amputations | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment | Metal pipes, tubing | |
| 17/10/2020 | STERIS Instrument Management Services, Inc. | Birmingham | Al | An employee was getting supplies from a closet. He fell over a cart, landing on the floor and suffering a shoulder injury that required surgery. | Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury | Shoulder(s), including clavicle(s), scapula(e) | Fall on same level due to tripping over an object | Floor | Cart, dolly, hand truck-nonpowered |
| 06/09/2020 | Ventura Foods, LLC | Birmingham | Al | An employee was cleaning the exterior of a tank. While moving around the tank, the employee slipped into an uncovered trench drain 15 inches deep. The drain was clogged and full of margarine and hot water. The employee fell in a seated position with her feet in the drain. The employee was hospitalized for burns. | Heat (thermal) burns | Nonclassifiable | Fall through surface or existing opening less than 6 feet | Grates and drains in floor surface | Fats, oils, cooking greases |
| 02/09/2020 | Berman Brothers Iron and Metal | Birmingham | Al | An employee was overcome by heat while working on an aluminum sow production line. | Effects of heat and light | BODY SYSTEMS | Exposure to environmental heat | Heat-environmental | |
| 07/08/2020 | Basic Drywall, Inc. | Birmingham | Al | An employee was working on a 6-foot Baker scaffold when the walk board collapsed. He fell to the concrete floor about 4 feet below, suffering a broken ankle that required surgery. | Fractures | Ankle(s) | Fall through surface or existing opening less than 6 feet | Floor | Floor, n.e.c. |
| 22/07/2020 | RJ MECHANICAL INC. | Birmingham | Alabama | An employee was climbing an extension ladder to install plumbing test plugs on a second level. Once the employee had ascended to the top of the ladder, it collapsed and the employee fell to the ground below. The employee was hospitalized with spinal injuries and broken bones in his feet. | Multiple traumatic injuries to bones, nerves, spinal cord | Multiple body parts | Fall from collapsing structure or equipment | Extension ladders | Floors, walkways, ground surfaces |
| 18/07/2020 | Department of Veterans Affairs | Birmingham | Alabama | An employee was working on an HVAC system replacing a belt on an exhaust fan. The cover to the exhaust fan was on his left on the roof surface. The employee took a picture of his completed work, and stepped to the left when his pants caught on the edge of the exhaust fan cover. He then fell backwards onto a rooftop access hatch. The employee sustained three broken vertebrae and four broken ribs. | Fractures | Multiple body parts | Fall on same level due to tripping over an object | Roofs | Machine and appliance parts, n.e.c. |
| 07/07/2020 | Aramark Uniform Services | Birmingham | Alabama | An employee was filling a chemical day tank when 5 gallons of acid overflowed onto the floor. As he was cleaning it up, the acid flowed over his shoes and burned his feet and toes. | Chemical burns and corrosions | Multiple foot (feet) locations | Exposure through intact skin, eyes, or other exposed tissue | Acids | |
| 01/07/2020 | Allworth, LLC | Birmingham | Alabama | An employee was consolidating aerosol cans. A can fell to the ground and shot back up striking the employee in the eye. The employee was hospitalized and underwent surgery to remove the eye. | Avulsions, enucleations | Eye(s) | Struck by dislodged flying object, particle | Containers-pressurized | |
| 30/06/2020 | Terex Utilities, INC | Birmingham | Alabama | An employee was loading a telehandler onto a flatbed trailer. The employee stepped down 1 foot, trying to avoid mud, and stepped onto a grassy patch, then rolled his left ankle which was fractured and dislocated. | Fractures and dislocations | Ankle(s) | Climbing or stepping up or down-single episode | Bodily motion or position of injured, ill worker | |
| 22/06/2020 | Harcon, Inc. | Birmingham | Alabama | An employee was gathering stacked building materials at the perimeter of the job site. When the employee picked up a piece of lumber, a raccoon jumped out from underneath the pile and bit the employee's right hand. The bite pierced the employee's glove. The employee was hospitalized due to rabies. | Rabies | BODY SYSTEMS | Other animal bites, nonvenomous | Mammals | |
| 10/06/2020 | SOUTHEASTERN FREIGHT LINES, INC. | Birmingham | Alabama | An employee was operating a forklift when the forklift blade became caught on a piece of metal over the expansion joint on a dock surface, causing the forklift to abruptly stop. The employee was buckled but his head impacted the forklift's front guard. He was hospitalized with a head injury. | Intracranial injuries | Brain | Nonroadway collision with object other than vehicle, n.e.c. | Forklift, order picker, platform truck-powered | Ramps, loading docks, dock plates |
| 09/06/2020 | United Parcel Service | Birmingham | Alabama | An employee was using a dolly to take packages up a stairway. The employee fell down the stairs, suffering a broken femur. The employee was hospitalized. | Fractures | Thigh(s) | Other fall to lower level | Stairs, steps | |
| 21/04/2020 | Mill Steel Co | Birmingham | Alabama | An employee was cleaning a roll former's tooling with a rag and manually jogged the machine with a remote control. The employee's glove and cleaning rag came in contact with the roll former, pulling his finger between the rolls. His left index finger was pinched and rolled over, resulting in surgical amputation of the finger to the first knuckle. | Amputations | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning | Rolling mills, rolling, calendering machinery | Brooms, mops, and other cleaning tools |
| 20/04/2020 | Alabama Hard Surfacing, Inc. | Birmingham | Alabama | An employee was showing another employee his gun. The gun fell to the floor and discharged, hitting the second employee in the left thigh. The second employee was hospitalized. | Gunshot wounds | Thigh(s) | Shooting by other person-unintentional | Co-worker | Firearm |
| 13/04/2020 | United Parcel Service | Birmingham | Alabama | On April 13, 2020, a UPS employee was returning to her package car after making a delivery to a customer's porch. When the customer opened their door to retrieve their package, a dog ran out of the house and bit the employee's right calf. The employee was hospitalized. | Puncture wounds, except gunshot wounds | Lower leg(s) | Other animal bites, nonvenomous | Dogs, canines-domestic | |
| 21/03/2020 | Alabama Power Company | Birmingham | Alabama | Two employees were checking secondary voltage in a pad-mounted transformer. One of the employees was holding a voltmeter while the other held its test probes. A test probe was pulled out of the second employee's hand and made contact with an energized device. This energized the voltmeter the first employee was holding, burning his left hand, left shoulder, and both feet. | Electrical burns | Upper and lower limb(s) | Indirect exposure to electricity | Power lines, transformers, convertors | Handtools-powered, n.e.c. |
| 11/03/2020 | Berger-US, Inc | Birmingham | Alabama | An employee was operating a resistance welder. The employee placed a ring band on the lower electrode. She then placed a closure handle on the top of the band. Once the welding process was initiated, the employee reached for the next band to process with her left hand, and reached for the ring she was currently welding with her right hand. The machine had not completed the clamping process and her right index finger was caught between the upper electrode and the ring. The fingertip was amputated | Amputations | Fingertip(s) | Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation | Welding machinery | |
| 10/03/2020 | Birmingham Fastener & Supply, Incorporated | Birmingham | Alabama | An employee was operating a roll threader machine to manufacture a metal bolt. The employee picked up a piece of material and positioned it into the threader dies to thread. He closed the dies with the foot pedal and used his left hand to help balance the material. When the material began to spin, his glove was caught and his left arm was twisted and broken. | Fractures | Arm(s) | Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation | Threading and tapping machines | Belts, gloves, neckties, scarves |
| 02/03/2020 | Metalplate Galvanizing, L.P. | Birmingham | Alabama | An employee was helping align a press, to be used in welding beams. His right hand was amputated between the ram and the shoe of the die. | Amputations | Hand(s) | Caught in running equipment or machinery, n.e.c. | Punch presses | |
| 18/02/2020 | B & M Drywall, LLC | Birmingham | Alabama | An employee was framing a soffit at the top of a scaffold. He pushed himself using bars attached to a desk as leverage. The scaffold started to roll too fast, and when he tried to stop it, he fell approximately 5 feet from the top of the scaffold onto the concrete floor. He suffered a cut on the head, a right knee and lower leg fracture, and a left knee fracture. | Fractures | Knee(s) and leg(s) | Other fall to lower level less than 6 feet | Scaffolds-self-supporting staging | Floor, n.e.c. |
| 05/02/2020 | O'Neal Steel, LLC | Birmingham | Alabama | An employee was using an overhead crane to put a piece of metal scrap in a dumpster. A stack of beams turned over and pinned the employee, injuring the employee's legs. The employee was hospitalized. | Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury | Leg(s) | Struck by falling object or equipment | Containers-variable restraint | |
| 05/02/2020 | Drummond Co., Inc | Birmingham | Alabama | Two electricians were troubleshooting an HVAC (condenser) unit in a control room. Both employees went to the control room and applied group lockout to a single disconnect rated at 250 VDC power. After locking out the power to the control room and condenser unit, the employees began troubleshooting several deficiencies they observed while looking through the control panel. After repairing those items, the two employees removed the locks and validated that the repairs were working. The employees o | Amputations | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning | Heating, cooling, and cleaning machinery and appliances | Chips, particles, splinters, n.e.c. |
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Although Birmingham, Alabama is known as a hub for manufacturing and industrial work, accidents in these settings are still unfortunately common. If you or someone you love has been injured in a machinery accident, it’s important to seek out experienced legal help to ensure that your rights are protected. Contact an attorney today to learn more about how they can help you.