Machine Injury & Accidents

Date	City	State	Employer	Body Part	Event
2021-09-30	Hansen	Id	Valley Agronomics LLC	Multiple trunk locations	Other fall to lower level
An employee was stepping up into a front loader and preparing to move a bag of fertilizer. He fell backward, landing on the concrete below and suffering fractured lower back vertebrae and two fractured ribs.
2021-09-25	Indiantown	Fl	QUALITY AG SERVICES, LLC	Leg(s)	Struck or run over by rolling powered vehicle
An employee was filling up a fertilizer tractor. The equipment moved and the employee suffered a puncture to the leg.
2021-08-06	Bloomingdale	Il	TruGreen Lawn Care	Leg(s)	Struck bump, hole, rough terrain on driving surface, nonroadway
An employee was operating a ride-on fertilizer spreader on a slight slope. The spreader hit a small rabbit hole and seemed like it was about to tip over. The employee's right leg was broken as he stuck his foot out to brace himself.
2021-07-29	Port Lavaca	Tx	BOLIN ENTERPRISES, INC.	Toes(s), toenail(s)	Struck by discharged object or substance
An employee was using a pressure washer to clean the inside of a fertilizer tank containing ammonium polyphosphate solution when the pressurized steam punctured his left big toe, resulting in infection and hospitalization.
2021-03-12	Bunkie	La	Helena Agri-Enterprises, LLC	Chest, except internal location of diseases or disorders	Caught between rolling powered vehicle and other object
An employee was transferring a bag of fertilizer that was held up by a forklift into a front-end loader. As the employee was standing in-between the forklift and the front-end loader, one of the machines rolled forward and the employee was pinned between the forklift mast and the bucket of the front-end loader. The employee was admitted to the hospital with six broken ribs.
2021-02-11	Fredonia	Ks	SEK COOP Inc.	Lumbar region	Collision between a moving and standing vehicle, nonroadway
An employee was using an articulating wheel loader to unload a customer's truck. The employee was backing the loader into a position parallel to the customer's truck when the loader struck the auger on the rear of a parked fertilizer truck. The employee was hospitalized with injury to the right side of their lower back.
2021-01-05	Elm Grove	La	BRUCE OAKLEY FERTILIZER	Foot (feet)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
An employee was loading the fertilizer hopper in the fertilizer house. As he was loading the hopper, his left foot was caught in the hopper while breaking up a fertilizer clump, resulting in injuries to his left foot that required surgery and hospitalization.
2020-10-15	Lake Buena Vista	Fl	Century Golf Partners Management, LP	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Struck by falling object or equipment, n.e.c.
An employee was removing a jack stand from a fertilizer spreader that is pulled by a tractor. The jack stand fell onto his left thumb crushing it between the jack stand and the fertilizer spreader. The thumb was fractured.
2020-09-24	Mount Sterling	Oh	Nutrien Ag Solutions	Leg(s)	Pedestrian struck by vehicle in nonroadway area
An employee was loading liquid fertilizer from the safety rack onto a tank that was on the trailer of a truck. The truck moved and pinched the employee's leg between the safety rack and the trailer. The employee was hospitalized with two broken bones in the right leg, located 14 inches above the ankle.
2020-06-27	Menomonie	Wisconsin	Lentz Fertilizer, Inc	Multiple body parts	Other fall to lower level
On June 27, 2020, an employee was entering a fertilizer bin through the top access when the employee fell off the bin's internally mounted ladder and struck internal structural members and the bottom of the bin. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured right arm, fractured left shoulder, fractured ribs, and cracked vertebrae.
2020-05-25	Mcgehee	Arkansas	Helena Agri-Enterprises, LLC	Head and trunk	Other fall to lower level more than 30 feet
An employee was on the roof of a fertilizer storage building, shoveling fertilizer that had spilled out through the hole in the roof. He slipped and fell down 20 feet of roof, then dropped 12 feet straight onto a trolley rail, then fell from the rail to the ground 18 inches below. The employee suffered three brain bleeds, a broken fractured left wrist, stomach injury, a kidney injury, a fractured eye socket, a pelvis fracture, a gash in the forehead (requiring stitches), and a cut that left skin
2020-05-23	Roscoe	South Dakota	Agtegra Cooperative	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Fall, slip, trip
An employee was having his tractor filled with dry fertilizer. He was on the front section of the tractor's hopper box, about to perform a density check on the fertilizer, when he slipped. A sharp object on the tractor caused a degloving injury to the inside of his right index, middle, and ring fingers.
2020-05-04	Great Falls	Montana	Mountain View Co-Op	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning
After bagging fertilizer, an employee shut off the bagger and began clearing out the hopper at its top. The auger began to turn and amputated the employee's right index finger.
2019-07-03	Eakly	Oklahoma	Equity Exchange	Leg(s)	Fall on same level, n.e.c.
An employee was working on grain fertilizer equipment. The cheater bar he was using slipped, causing him to fall and break his leg.
2019-05-15	Rochester	New York	United Refining Company	Brain	Struck by swinging part of powered vehicle
Employees were performing maintenance on a fertilizer truck loading arm when the spring tensioner released, allowing the arm to drop and strike an employee who was offering guidance and observing the work. The employee was struck on the head and knocked down.
2019-04-24	Ottawa	Illinois	Grainco FS Inc.	Fingertip(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
An employee was filling and sealing 50-pound bags of fertilizer. The employee was correcting the alignment of a bag going into the sealer unit when his right middle finger was caught. He suffered a fingertip amputation.
2019-01-18	Palmyra	Missouri	Doyle Equipment Manufacturing	Coccygeal region	Fall, slip, trip
An employee was unbolting a hopper on a vertical fertilizer blender so that it could be loaded for transportation. When all the bolts except the corner bolts had been taken off, the top corner bolts pulled though the rusted angle iron (and welds broke on the angle iron itself), causing a motion that sent the employee back and to the ground. The employee suffered a broken coccyx.
2018-08-06	Middletown	Pennsylvania	TruGreen Middletown	Head and trunk	Other fall to lower level
An employee was on a ladder checking a fertilizer tank for a potential leak when the ladder kicked out, causing him to fall to the ground. He suffered rib and facial fractures.
2018-05-14	Waco	Texas	Equalizer, Inc.	Head and trunk	Other fall to lower level
An employee was using a ladder to enter and clean a liquid fertilizer tank when he fell. He sustained a cracked skull, broken ribs, and bruised organs, requiring hospitalization.
2018-05-08	Atmore	Alabama	Helena-Agri Enterprises, LLC	Chest, except internal location of diseases or disorders	Fall from collapsing structure or equipment 21 to 25 feet
An employee was walking on a wooden catwalk when the floor gave way resulting in the employee falling approximately 22 feet into a fertilizer bin with material about 5 feet high. The employee sustained a bruised lung and four broken ribs.
2018-04-23	Madison	Nebraska	Battle Creek Farmers Cooperative - Madison	Hip(s)	Other fall to lower level
An employee was climbing a ladder built into a fertilizer tank trailer to access the lid and fill the tank when the employee slipped and fell from the ladder to the ground, landing on and breaking the right hip. The employee was hospitalized.
2018-04-14	Trenton	Missouri	MFA Inc	Forearm(s)	Jack-knifed or overturned, roadway
An employee was driving a fertilizer tender truck and moving over to accommodate traffic when the truck rolled over. The employee suffered lower arm avulsions.
2018-01-15	Baxley	Georgia	Griffins Warehouse-Baxley, LLC	Arm(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning
An employee was using a brush to clean fertilizer off an energized belt conveyor when the brush became caught in the conveyor's rollers. The brush and the employee's left arm were pulled into the rollers, causing a left arm fracture.
2017-10-05	Boyle	Mississippi	Green Point Ag	Hand(s)	Struck by discharged object or substance
An employee was unloading a fertilizer trailer when he discovered a hydraulic leak. Hydraulic fluid was then injected into his hand.
2017-08-08	Caruthersville	Missouri	MFA, INC.	Multiple trunk locations	Struck by object falling from vehicle or machinery-other than vehicle part
Employees were using a fork truck to move a fertilizer hopper when the hopper fell on one of the employees, resulting in a crushed pelvis and ribs.
2017-06-28	Enid	Oklahoma	Takraf USA Inc.	Nonclassifiable	Fall through surface or existing opening 21 to 25 feet
An employee fell approximately 25 feet through a floor opening while constructing fertilizer moving equipment, suffering multiple fractures.
2017-06-21	York	Pennsylvania	TruGreen	BODY SYSTEMS	Exposure to environmental heat
The employee applied fertilizer at 25 to 35 different work locations throughout the day and was treated for heat stroke.
2017-06-01	Iuka	Kansas	Kanza Cooperative Association	Back, including spine, spinal cord	Struck bump, hole, rough terrain on driving surface, nonroadway
An employee was using a case floater to spread dry fertilizer on a farmer's field when he came over a hill and hit a washout. He injured his back and required hospitalization.
2017-04-28	Akron	New York	TruGreen	Fingertip(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning
An employee was operating a spreader/sprayer machine to apply fertilizers and herbicides to turf. He was attempting to repair/replace a belt in the machine when his right hand was caught and pulled into its pulley system, amputating his index fingertip. The machine was not locked/tagged out at the time.
2017-04-25	Hansen	Idaho	Valley Agronomics, LLC	Upper and lower limb(s)	Other fall to lower level
An employee was climbing a ladder on a fertilizer trailer to adjust a tarp. The tarp flapped in the wind and caused him to fall from the ladder to the ground. He sustained a compound fracture to his left wrist and a fractured heel. One of his injuries required surgery.
2017-04-20	Rexburg	Idaho	Valley Agronomics	Leg(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
An employee was offloading dry fertilizer from a train car into a dry facility using an auger system when his foot and leg were pulled into the auger resulting in amputation of the leg.
2017-04-05	Rockwood	Pennsylvania	Bedford Farm Bureau Cooperative Association	Arm(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
An employee was applying fertilizer and got an arm caught in the spinners of the fertilizer truck.
2017-02-09	Eolia	Missouri	Crop Production Services	Lower leg(s)	Exposure through intact skin, eyes, or other exposed tissue
An employee was cleaning a flow meter after applying anhydrous ammonia as fertilizer for corn. When he finished taking the flow meter out of the system, the meter still had product in the line. The product came out of the line and leaked onto the back of his legs, burning his lower calves and requiring overnight hospitalization.
2017-01-06	Abilene	Kansas	Mid Kansas Cooperative	Nose, except internal location of diseases or disorders	Fall on same level due to tripping
On Friday, January 6, 2017,at 9:30 a.m., an employee was helping a trailer being loaded with fertilizer. As he stepped forward to notify the driver that the trailer was full, he tripped and fell forward, hitting his nose on the step of the semi-trailer. He was hospitalized overnight with a broken nose.
2016-10-11	Dewey	Illinois	Growmark, Inc.	Brain	Other fall to lower level less than 6 feet
While descending the stairs of fertilizer-applying equipment, an employee fell approximately 3 feet to the concrete surface below and struck the right side of the forehead, suffering a hematoma and brain bleed.
2016-10-07	Perryville	Missouri	MFA Agri Services	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning
An employee was attempting to change the bearings on a fertilizer tender truck's auger and was using a garden hose to loosen the product. The hose became tangled in the auger, which drug his hand into the auger. As a result, his right pinky and part of his ring finger were amputated. He was hospitalized.
2016-10-04	Burkburnett	Texas	Helena Chemical Co	BODY SYSTEMS	Engulfment in other collapsing material
An employee was operating a loader to load dry fertilizer into a truck when a wall of dry (hard) fertilizer broke loose, broke the windshield of the loader, and engulfed the loader and the employee up to the middle of his chest. He suffered breathing difficulties and leg contusions, requiring hospitalization.
2016-08-10	Somerset	Pennsylvania	Growmark	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
An employee was removing a clump of fertilizer from a screw conveyor when two fingers on his left hand became caught and partially amputated in the conveyor.
2016-07-13	Seaford	Delaware	Perdue AgriRecycle, LLC	Leg(s)	Pedestrian struck by vehicle in nonroadway area
An employee was struck by a forklift truck that was moving a tote of fertilizer on a wooden pallet resulting in a left leg fracture.
2015-10-21	Chelmsford	Massachusett	Brickman / Valley Crest	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery, n.e.c.
An employee was starting a 300 gallon fertilizer pump and amputated the right ring finger when his finger was caught in the flywheel.
2015-10-20	Woodson	Illinois	Prairieland FS, Inc.	Multiple body parts	Other fall to lower level
An employee was transferring fertilizer from a tinder truck to a field applicator when he fell off of the field applicator. He was hospitalized with a broken collarbone and broken vertebrae in his neck.
2015-09-23	York	Nebraska	Central Valley Ag	Fingertip(s)	Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment
Three employees were replacing a gasket on a liquid fertilizer tank. While attempting to install the gasket, the injured employee's finger got caught in a pipe, amputating his right index fingertip.
2015-08-24	Ashland	Illinois	Brandt Consoldated, Inc.	Lower leg(s)	Struck by falling object or equipment, n.e.c.
An employee was installing a new fertilizer pump and hoisting it up with a chain when a link on the chain broke. The pump fell and struck the employee in the left leg causing a severe laceration and breaking the lower leg.
2015-07-07	Toledo	Ohio	Inverness Club	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
On or about July 7, 2015, an employee received a finger amputation while operating the PTO fertilizer.
2015-04-23	Hobart	Oklahoma	Planters Co-Operative Association	Hip(s)	Fall on same level, n.e.c.
An employee was accessing a door into the fertilizer house. The step to the door was steep, and the platform/walking surface was a little damp. When the employee reached the step, he fell and broke his right hip. He was hospitalized.
2015-04-11	Rosedale	Mississippi	Pinnacle Agriculture Distribution, Inc.	Foot (feet)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
An employee was sweeping the floor when his right pant leg got caught in the pulley shaft of the straight line conveyer in the dry fertilizer facility. The employee's right foot was amputated.
2015-03-25	Eustis	Nebraska	All Points Cooperative	Back, including spine, spinal cord	Struck by falling object or equipment, n.e.c.
An employee operating a Wrangler (front-end loader) to unload the pebble line backed into an open area. The rollover cage struck a doorway where a door swings up into the dry fertilizer area. The door came off of the latches that were holding it up and struck him in the back.
2015-01-30	Huron	South Dakota	South Dakota Wheat Growers	Nonclassifiable	Other fall to lower level
The injured employee was working on the spreader applying dry fertilizer to the field. He was performing maintenance. He went up the ladder/staircase to the operator's cab to get the owner's manual. He lost his balance and fell to the ground. He was then hospitalized.
2015-01-28	Mobile	Alabama	Country Club of Mobile, The	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
An employee in the lawn/golf course maintenance department was spreading fertilizer and reached into the hopper to push lime further down the hopper. His gloved hand was caught by the agitator causing a deep cut to his left middle fingertip. The employee was hospitalized and the next day part of his finger was amputated.