Machine Injury & Accidents

Date	City	State	Employer	Body Part	Event
2021-10-08	Jacksonville	Fl	Meridian Waste, LLC.	Multiple trunk locations	Pedestrian struck by vehicle backing up in roadway
On October 8, 2021, an employee was on the back side of a truck, giving the driver directions to back up the truck to get close to two garbage cans. The truck struck him, causing fractures to his pelvic bone and sacrum. He was hospitalized.
2021-04-23	Marshallville	Ga	Pearson Farm	Fingertip(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
An employee was throwing pecans onto a moving conveyor belt when their finger became caught between the belt and a pulley, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
2021-04-05	Weirsdale	Fl	Circle K	Nonclassifiable	Fall on same level due to tripping over an object
The employee was walking near the fueling area in order to change trash cans when they tripped on a fuel hose and fell. The employee was hospitalized and had surgery.
2020-10-10	Lancaster	Tx	Capstone Logistics	Leg(s)	Pedestrian struck by vehicle in nonroadway area
An employee was checking trash cans when he was struck by a forklift that was exiting a tractor trailer. The employee sustained a fractured right leg.
2020-09-10	Cincinnati	Oh	JM Smucker Company	Hand(s) and arm(s)	Fall on same level, n.e.c.
An employee was using a band to pull pallets of cans off a truck when the band snapped, causing the employee to fall backwards onto the floor. The employee suffered a fractured left arm and hand.
2020-07-01	Birmingham	Alabama	Allworth, LLC	Eye(s)	Struck by dislodged flying object, particle
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.
2020-06-24	Cambria	Wisconsin	Seneca Foods Corporation	Multiple body parts	Fall on same level due to tripping over an object
An employee was weighing cans and placing gallon-sized cans on a small cart. While pulling the cart, the cart caught the employee's foot, causing the employee to trip and fall on the floor. The cart and three cans fell on her. She was hospitalized with a fractured wrist and hip.
2019-07-25	Markesan	Wisconsin	Del Monte Foods, Inc.	Lower leg(s)	Struck by swinging or slipping object, other than handheld, n.e.c.
An employee was working with an automatic can palletizer when he noticed cans had fallen off a pallet. While the employee was resetting the cans, he was struck in the right leg by the machine causing a fracture to the tibia and fibula.
2019-07-03	Fort Worth	Texas	Crossroads LP	Multiple body parts	Explosion of pressure vessel, piping, or tire
An employee was cleaning a thermoplastic cart. The thermoplastic was being drained into a 55-gallon metal drum and was heated. The drum had trash in it and the thermoplastic heated up some aerosol paint cans that were not visible and caused them to explode. The explosion threw the hot thermoplastic on the employee's head and arms, causing burns.
2019-07-03	Orange Park	Florida	Advanced Disposal	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Pedestrian struck by vehicle backing up in roadway
A temporary employee had been picking up trash cans and dumping them in the rear loader of a garbage truck. At the time of the incident, he was helping the truck driver back up in the street. As the driver was backing up, the employee's right hand (finger) was caught between the rear loader and a 4 x 4 piece of wood, resulting in a finger amputation.
2019-06-28	Bellbrook	Ohio	Bobby D Thompson, Inc.	BODY SYSTEMS	Exposure to environmental heat
An employee's muscles cramped up while emptying trash cans due to heat stress.
2019-06-11	Van Buren	Arkansas	Bud's Recycling	Arm(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
An employee was raking cans into a pit for recycling. While the employee was in the pit, his arm was caught in the conveyor, suffering an amputation at or near the elbow.
2019-05-29	New Paltz	New York	Smiley Brothers, Inc.	Lower leg(s)	Thrown, fell, or jumped from animal being ridden
An employee was exercising and riding a horse for guest rides when a deer jumped out from behind garbage cans. The horse reacted to the deer, moving quickly or bucking. The employee was thrown to the ground, where the horse may have stepped on the employee. The employee suffered a right calf injury with swelling.
2019-01-29	Plymouth Meeting	Pennsylvania	Spray Products Corp	Chest, except internal location of diseases or disorders	Explosion of pressure vessel, piping, or tire
Three employees were running cans at an aerosol manufacturing plant. Some cans fell into the hot water bath and while unjamming several cans exploded. All three employees were injured. One employee sustained a laceration and bruising to the chest that resulted from a flying can and required hospitalization.
2018-09-19	Watertown	Connecticut	USA Waste & Recycling	Lower leg(s)	Other fall to lower level less than 6 feet
An employee was standing in the back of an open box truck when a stack of 96-gallon garbage cans fell over, causing the employee to be pushed from the truck to the ground. The employee fractured his lower right leg.
2018-09-06	Vineland	New Jersey	Aunt Kitty's Foods	BODY SYSTEMS	Exposure to environmental heat
At 9:00 a.m., an employee began a shift loading crates full of cans into pressure cookers. At about 11:30, he began to feel cramping. By the end of his shift, at about 6:30, his cramping had worsened. He was hospitalized for heat exhaustion.
2018-08-28	Longview	Texas	Turner Industries	Hip(s)	Fall on same level due to tripping over an object
An employee was emptying trash cans when he approached a trash can that was behind the support bracing for an overhead crane. He stepped over the support bracing and his left foot was caught on the bracing. He then lost his balance and fell, fracturing his right hip.
2018-05-15	Brooklyn	New York	B&G Foods, Inc.	Leg(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
An employee was operating a hydraulic pallet lift conveyor to remove cans of tomatoes from a pallet. His leg was between the pallet lift conveyor and a guardrail when the hydraulic control was pressed, causing the pallet conveyor to rise and squeeze his right leg between the pallet and guardrail. His right leg broke.
2018-01-08	Chicago	Illinois	Universal Scrap Metals	Shoulder(s), including clavicle(s), scapula(e)	Struck by falling object or equipment
An employee was walking through the production floor when part of a bale of aluminum cans fell and hit him, knocking him to the ground. He sustained a fractured clavicle.
2018-01-04	Windsor	Colorado	Metal Container Corporation	Lower leg(s)	Pedestrian struck by vehicle backing up in nonroadway area
The employee had been driving a fork truck to load empty cans (product). The injured employee then left the fork truck as another employee was reversing a fork truck nearby. He was in the other fork truck driver's blind spot, and the fork truck driver pinned him between the two fork trucks. He fractured his lower left and right legs, requiring hospitalization.
2017-07-14	Dallas	Pennsylvania	Offset Paperback Mfrs. Inc.	Multiple leg locations	Struck by falling object or equipment
On Friday, July 14, 2017, at approximately 12:15 PM, an employee was guiding cans (printing equipment) to a forklift platform when a can behind her fell and struck her left knee and lower leg. She was hospitalized with a crushing injury.
2017-07-13	Austin	Texas	Texas Disposal Systems	Head	Fall onto or against object on same level, n.e.c.
An employee suffered heat stress while dumping trash cans on a garbage truck, becoming lightheaded and losing consciousness. The employee then fell and struck their head on the truck frame, suffering a head laceration that required stitches. The employee was hospitalized.
2017-07-06	Hereford	Texas	Tejas Industries, Inc.	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Contact with objects and equipment
An employee was picking up cans beneath a machine at about 1:45 a.m. when the employee's left hand came in contact with a gear chain, amputating the left middle fingertip to the first knuckle.
2017-07-01	Biddeford	Maine	Count & Crush LLC	BODY SYSTEMS	Exposure to environmental heat
An employee suffered heat stress symptoms (cramps and excessive sweating) while loading returnable bottles and cans on a truck. He was hospitalized with heat-related illness.
2017-04-04	Flora	Mississippi	Waste Management of Central Mississippi	Multiple body parts	Pedestrian struck by forward-moving vehicle in roadway
An employee was emptying trash cans into a garbage truck hopper and was struck by an oncoming delivery truck resulting in a broken left arm and two broken teeth.
2017-01-19	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	Sunoco Logistics - Fort Mifflin	Cheek(s)	Explosion of pressure vessel, piping, or tire
An employee was bringing aerosol cans to room temperature when one of the cans ruptured and struck the employee's right cheek, causing a laceration.
2017-01-06	Lyons	Georgia	Tri-Union Seafood's, LLC	Forearm(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
An employee was working at the de-palletizer and reached with their right hand to retrieve a slip sheet from the top of the empty cans. The sweeper arm on the de-palletizer, which is located above the cans and pushes the cans off of the pallet and onto a conveyor belt, came down and caught her right hand resulting in a fractured right forearm.
2016-10-12	Port Charlotte	Florida	Waste Management Inc. of Florida	Foot (feet)	Fall or jump from and struck by same vehicle in normal operation, roadway
A temporary employee was riding on the passenger side of a yard waste truck. When the employee got out of the truck as it approached waste cans, the right front truck tire drove over his left foot. He was hospitalized.
2016-08-20	Gillett	Wisconsin	Seneca Foods Corporation	Lower leg(s)	Struck by falling object or equipment
An employee was helping a forklift operator straighten the cardboard dust cover on a pallet. The top three pallets in the stack collapsed, causing several hundred cans of green beans to fall on the employee, breaking both of his lower legs.
2016-07-26	Kearney	Nebraska	Ace Irrigation and MFG. CO.	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
While rolling cans, an employee's right-hand fingers were caught in the roller, crushing/avulsing the fingers and resulting in a possible amputation.
2016-06-16	Toledo	Ohio	Pepsi Beverages Company.	Neck, except internal location of diseases or disorders	Struck by falling object or equipment, n.e.c.
On June 16, 2016, an employee was hospitalized after a case of 12 soda cans fell and struck the back of the employee's neck.
2016-04-18	Toledo	Ohio	Impact Products	Chest, except internal location of diseases or disorders	Overexertion involving outside sources
On April 18, 2016, an employee separating trash cans on the receiving docks began to experience shoulder pain. The employee was hospitalized with a collapsed lung.
2016-04-01	Highland	Illinois	Basler Electric Company	Abdomen, except internal location of diseases or disorders	Overexertion in lifting-multiple episodes
An employee was lifting and emptying trash cans when he experienced stomach pains. He was hospitalized with a hernia and required surgery.
2016-03-31	Cincinnati	Ohio	Xtek, Inc.	Hand(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
On 3/31/16, at 1:45pm an employee was making large cans on a roll bender machine when the rollers pulled his left hand into the machine causing a crushing injury to the employee's hand that required hospitalization.
2016-02-27	Plumerville	Arkansas	Hixson Lumber Sales Inc	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Compressed or pinched between two stationary objects
An employee was putting metal bands into a trash can when his left index finger was caught between the steel cans, partially amputating the finger at the nail.
2016-01-11	Bridgeport	Texas	NTX Valve and Pump, LLC	Multiple body parts	Ignition of vapors, gases, or liquids
An employee was attempting to warm spray paint cans in front of a heater when the cans caught fire and burned the employee's hands and forehead.
2015-12-02	Connellsville	Pennsylvania	Special T Metals LLC	Foot (feet)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
An employee was operating a can densifying machine that crushes aluminum cans. The employee's right foot got caught in the hydraulically controlled door to the machine, crushing and possibly amputating the toes.
2015-04-27	Pago Pago	American Sam	Starkist Company	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning
An employee was cleaning cans from the filler machine when his/her hand was caught in the machine resulting in the amputation of the right 5th finger.
2015-04-23	Orange	Texas	Westport Orange Shipyard	Hand(s)	Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment
Employees were transferring a barge from dry dock to land. The barge commander gave the "stand clear" signal to everyone. The injured employee's hands were not clear of the lifting cans. The employee's fingers on both hands were crushed between the lifting cans and the bottom of the barge.