Machine Injury & Accidents

Date	City	State	Employer	Body Part	Event
2021-10-12	Lee	Ma	LB Corp	Skull	Other fall to lower level
An employee was ratcheting a piece of equipment to a truck. He fell off the back of the truck and his head struck the pavement. His skull was broken above the ear.
2021-10-06	Framingham	Ma	Dodge Construction	Abdomen, except internal location of diseases or disorders	Struck by dislodged flying object, particle
An employee was strapping a load to the deck of an open trailer when the ratchet mechanism on a turnbuckle failed and the 3-foot-long load bar struck his abdomen. The employee sustained a contusion and internal injury to his abdomen.
2021-06-17	New Castle	Pa	Faddis Concrete Products	Multiple body parts	Struck by object falling from vehicle or machinery-other than vehicle part
An employee and a co-worker were preparing to remove a load of mesh from a flatbed. After releasing the ratchet strap that was being used to secure the mesh, the tension on the strap caused the mesh to shift and fall toward the employee. The employee was pushed into a panel behind him, resulting in a fractured left index finger, C5 and C7 spinal fractures, and possible nerve damage.
2021-03-11	Newport	Ar	Arkansas Steel Associates, LLC	Fingertip(s)	Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment
Two employees were tightening down bolts on a press punch block. As the last bolt was being tightened down, the wrench slipped and part of the press block fell on the hand of the employee holding up the press block. The employee's left ring finger was pinched between the ratchet tool and a punch that was hanging down, causing an amputation of the fingertip.
2021-02-21	Elmendorf	Tx	Mechanical Dynamics and Analysis	Fingertip(s)	Injured by slipping or swinging object held by injured worker
Two employees were manually tapping holes after destructive removal of studs. They were using a pneumatic ratchet, placed on the socket over the tap, with a stop bar in one of the existing studs. When the injured employee activated the pneumatic wrench, it pulled the employee toward a neighboring stud. The employee's left ring finger was pinched between the tool body and the stud, causing an amputation at the fingertip.
2020-10-14	Osceola	Ar	Big River Steel, LLC	Fingertip(s)	Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment
An employee was removing a light fixture from a conduit. He was using a fixture clamp vise and ratchet set. The fixture shifted and amputated a quarter-inch of his left index fingertip.
2020-08-27	Apopka	Fl	PHOSPHORUS FREE WATER SOLUTIONS, LLC	Leg(s)	Struck by object falling from vehicle or machinery-other than vehicle part
An employee was working at a treatment facility construction site. A flatbed had transported a single platform about 1 mile to the site. The platform was strapped onto the flatbed and had wood blocks to keep it from moving. During the transport, one of the pieces of wood vibrated out of position. When the employee released the ratcheted straps, the tubular steel frame platform toppled over and off the flatbed. The platform struck and broke his left leg. He was hospitalized and had surgery.
2020-07-16	Mercer	Pennsylvania	Mercer Forge Corporation	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment
An employee was removing tooling components from a 2,000-ton trim press. He was using a ratchet to loosen the bottom bolts to secure the tooling. The weight of the upper portion of the tooling was secured by a 2 x 2 block of wood. This block failed, allowing the top portion to contact the employee's hand and crush his left middle finger. He was hospitalized for surgery.
2020-07-15	Albany	Georgia	Oxford Construction Company	Thigh(s)	Fall on same level, n.e.c.
An employee was using a ratchet wrench to loosen a bolt. The adapter that holds the socket on the wrench broke. This caused the employee to fall to the ground and sustain a broken right femur.
2020-06-27	Ocala	Florida	Lowe's Home Centers, LLC	Foot (feet)	Other fall to lower level less than 6 feet
Two employees were in the bed of a customer's pickup truck, moving a grill to the back of the bed. The customer removed his ratchet straps from the truck's cab and threw them on the ground. When one of the two employees stepped down from the truck bed, his left foot landed on top of the ratchet. The employee went to the ground and the foot was broken.
2020-06-26	Burnet	Texas	Primoris Rockford Corporation	Brain	Injured by slipping or swinging object held by injured worker
An employee was struck on the head with a winch bar while securing a ratchet on a pipe hauling trailer, suffering a concussion and a forehead laceration that required sutures. The employee was hospitalized.
2020-05-04	Athens	Alabama	Foley Products Company, Inc.	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Contact with objects and equipment
An employee was removing bolts on a shaft adapter with a ratcheting allen head socket wrench. While the employee was loosening a bolt, the blocking bar for the shaft slipped, allowing the shaft to drop 6 inches and pinch the employee's left little fingertip between the ratchet and the top of the gearbox. The finger was partially amputated.
2020-03-27	Corpus Christi	Texas	Holt Texas, LTD.	Forearm(s)	Injured by slipping or swinging object held by injured worker
An employee was using a torque multiplier ratchet wrench to loosen a bolt. The wrench broke and struck him in the arm, breaking the forearm. He was hospitalized and underwent surgery.
2020-02-03	San Antonio	Texas	The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company	Fingertip(s)	Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment
An employee was changing a tire on a school bus. While the spare was being lowered from under the bus, the ratchet strap came loose and pinched off the tip of the employee's index finger.
2020-01-27	Milford	Delaware	Atlantic Concrete Company, Inc.	Forehead	Struck by dislodged flying object, particle
An employee was sitting in a concrete truck that was stuck in the mud. The back of a second concrete truck was attached to the front of the concrete truck that was stuck in the mud by a ratcheting strap. The connecting strap snapped, flinging the metal ratchet device crashing through the driver side window of the concrete truck. The device struck the employee in the head, causing a forehead laceration that required sutures and hospitalization.
2019-09-11	Harmony	Pennsylvania	American Made, LLC	Face	Injured by slipping or swinging object held by injured worker
An employee was using a ratchet to tighten banding on a cart. The ratchet slipped and struck the employee's left cheek and eye area, causing facial fractures and lacerations above and below the eye.
2019-08-12	Daytona Beach	Florida	Giles Electric Company	BODY SYSTEMS	Exposure to environmental heat
On August 12, 2019, an employee was taking measurements utilizing a tape measurer and cutting PVC pipe for about 15 minutes using a PVC ratchet cutter. The employee later felt unwell and was hospitalized for heat-related illness and acute kidney failure.
2019-07-26	Angleton	Texas	Seabreeze Recovery, Inc.	Toes(s), toenail(s)	Struck by object falling from vehicle or machinery-other than vehicle part
An employee was using a ratcheting lifting device to lift the tongue of the pull-behind hydro-seeder off of the hitch of the bull dozer. Once it was off the hitch, the tongue fell and landed on the injured employee's left foot. The employee sustained crushing injuries to the left foot and toes, as well as the amputation of the fourth toe.
2019-07-24	Lancaster	Texas	Superior Installation Services Inc.	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment
An employee was using a ratchet strap to plumb and shim a vertical post that was part of a mezzanine installation. The employee released the ratchet strap and his right index finger was caught in the strap, resulting in a broken finger. He was hospitalized.
2019-07-22	Chillicothe	Ohio	Big Sandy Superstore	Fingertip(s)	Struck by dislodged flying object, particle
An employee was loading a one-person aerial lift onto a trailer and securing the lift to the trailer with a come-along. A hook from the come-along came loose from its attachment point on the trailer. The tension from the come-along cable ratchet system caused the hook to fly back toward the employee, striking and injuring his left thumb resulting in medical amputation of the thumb tip.
2019-05-06	Conroe	Texas	Builders First Source	Multiple mouth locations	Struck by dislodged flying object, particle
A driver was tightening a strap on his trailer to secure a load. The ratchet came loose and flew off the trailer hitting the driver in the mouth. The driver sustained an injured lip, broken mouth, and broken teeth.
2018-09-15	Decatur	Alabama	DAIKIN AMERICA, INC.	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Injured by slipping or swinging object held by injured worker
An employee was using a ratcheting air tool to remove bolts from a tower when the employee's left third finger was caught in the tool, resulting in an amputation of the distal phalanx.
2018-09-11	Ambridge	Pennsylvania	Great Plains Trucking Inc.	Pelvic region	Struck by dislodged flying object, particle
An employee had thrown a ratchet strap into a truck when the strap bounced back and struck him. He was hospitalized.
2018-09-08	Newport	Arkansas	SOUTHWEST STEEL PROCESSING, LLC	Foot (feet) and ankle(s)	Other fall to lower level 6 to 10 feet
An employee was using a ratchet puller to remove a clutch plate off a press while standing on a 10-foot portable ladder when he fell to the ground below, fracturing his left heel and right ankle.
2018-06-07	Marion	Ohio	Lexicon, Inc	Hand(s)	Contact with objects and equipment
On June 7, 2018, an employee was cribbing up a figure eight eccentric wheel block assembly. The cribbing fell as he was tightening bolts with a ratchet and socket, pinching his left hand. His hand was crushed and the employee was hospitalized.
2018-05-31	Serena	Illinois	Grainco FS, Inc.	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment
After spraying a field with pesticides, an employee was preparing to drive the sprayer back to the facility. The employee had to fold the booms to leave the field, and an outrigger breakaway weld had broken on one boom, requiring manual effort to fold it. The employee was using a ratchet strap to help fold the boom when the employee's hand/fingers were caught in a pinch point, resulting in the amputation of two fingers.
2018-04-10	Watford City	North Dakota	Adler Hot Oil Service, LLC	Arm(s)	Struck by dislodged flying object, particle
An employee was injured when a candy cane in a Poseidon tank came loose and a ratchet strap that was holding the candy cane struck and lacerated his arm.
2018-03-27	Dover	Ohio	W. L. Logan Trucking Co.	Multiple body parts	Other fall to lower level less than 6 feet
An employee fell about five feet off the back of a flatbed trailer while securing a load of coiled steel spools with ratchet straps and impacted the concrete driveway below. The employee sustained a head injury, a right arm fracture and a fractured pelvis.
2018-03-21	Perry	Florida	Foley Cellulose A Georgia-Pacific Company	Lower leg(s)	Fall on same level, n.e.c.
An employee was tightening a bolt on the end of a cutter machine's bed knife when the ratchet handle slipped off the socket, causing the employee to fall backwards. He broke his right tibia and fibula, requiring hospitalization.
2018-01-04	Denver City	Texas	Team Industrial Services, Inc.	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Nonclassifiable
An employee's left index finger was smashed between a ratchet handle and measuring rod while doing a hot tap. The first digit of the employee's finger was amputated.
2017-07-10	Saint Gabriel	Louisiana	Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC.	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment
An employee was tightening a chain on a roll-off-bin. He was ratcheting the links in the chain when his left ring finger was caught and fractured in a pinch point, requiring hospitalization and surgery.
2017-05-10	Plattsburgh	New York	Nova Bus Plattsburgh	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Injured by slipping or swinging object held by injured worker
An employee was working on a pneumatic nut runner (air ratchet) equipped with a long extension to bolt seat rails to a bus. The employee was wearing gloves at the time. She was holding the air ratchet overhead with her left hand near the rotating ratchet head when the ratchet head and extension caught her glove, wrapping it around her left pinky and partially de-gloving it. Her left pinky finger had to be partially amputated.
2017-04-19	Rensselaer	New York	Van Rensselear Management Inc.	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Struck by powered vehicle-nontransport, n.e.c.
An employee and a coworker were securing a forklift to a trailer for transport using chains and ratchet binders. The machine was chained in all four corners and the last place to secure was the forklift mast. The forks were in the up position to allow the truck ramps to be folded. The coworker climbed into the forklift and lowered the forks. The employee had been adjusting the position of the tie-down block on the trailer deck and was unaware that the forks were being lowered. The employee's lef
2017-02-16	De Leon	Texas	Totelcom Communications, LLC	Back, including spine, spinal cord	Standing, standing up-single episode
An employee was putting a boomer on a trencher with a ratchet. When he stood up, his back seized up. He was hospitalized with a bulging disc and pinched nerve in his back.
2016-09-12	North East	Pennsylvania	NE Foods, Inc.	Back, including spine, spinal cord	Other fall to lower level 6 to 10 feet
An employee was fixing a hunting tree stand on the business owner's property. He was standing on a ladder tightening a strap with a ratcheting tool. The strap broke as he was tightening it, causing him to lose his balance and fall approximately 6 feet to the ground. He was hospitalized with fractured vertebrae.
2016-09-04	Orla	Texas	HB Rentals, LLC	Fingertip(s)	Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment
An employee was attempting to release tension from a 2-inch ratchet strap by lifting the lever that activates the lock/unlock mechanism. The pressurized strap released and the locking mechanism amputated his right thumb tip.
2016-08-26	Quaker City	Ohio	JLE Industries LLC	BODY SYSTEMS	Exposure to environmental heat
An employee was hospitalized for heat exhaustion. For approximately one hour, the employee was securing a load of pipe on a flatbed trailer. Standing on the ground, the employee was throwing straps over the load and ratcheting tight.
2016-08-18	Charleroi	Pennsylvania	Contractors Rental Corporation	Back, including spine, spinal cord	Overexertion in pushing, pulling, or turning-single episode
An employee suffered a back injury while securing a strap on a trailer with a ratcheting strap and bar.
2016-08-15	Heaters	West Virgini	Conway-Phillips Holding, LLC	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Fall or jump curtailed by personal fall arrest system
On August 15, 2016, at approximately 11:00 a.m., an employee was constructing a storage tank. The employee was standing on grating that surrounded the tank and at a height of approximately 47 to 48 feet. Because there were no railings, the employee wore a full body harness and was tied off to the structure. While he was tightening a bolt, the ratchet slipped off and he fell from the grating. During the fall, his right arm struck the structure, amputating his right ring finger and lacerating his
2016-07-27	Lonedell	Missouri	Midwest Pertroleum	Leg(s)	Struck by swinging or slipping object, other than handheld, n.e.c.
An employee was jacking up a wall and using a ratchet strap during construction activities when the strap came loose and struck the employee's right leg, seriously lacerating it.
2016-06-30	Geismar	Louisiana	Airgas USA, LLC.	Lumbar region	Other fall to lower level
An employee was ratcheting a load on top of a pallet and slipped and fell backwards off the pallet fracturing lumbar vertebrae.
2016-04-28	Boca Raton	Florida	NICHOLSON CONSTRUCTION COMPANY	Forearm(s)	Struck by object or equipment, n.e.c.
An employee was repairing a winch with a ratchet wrench. Tension on the winch caused it and the wrench to spin. The spinning wrench struck the employee's right lower arm and fractured it.
2016-04-19	Dime Box	Texas	Diamond P Lease & Well Service Inc.	Fingertip(s)	Injured by slipping or swinging object held by injured worker
An employee was using a ratchet wrench to tighten a bolt when the wrench slipped, catching his finger between it and a piece of steel. His left-hand third fingertip was amputated.
2016-01-20	Rochelle	Illinois	Boise Cascade Building Materials Distribution, L.L.C.	Lower leg(s)	Fall on same level, n.e.c.
An employee was hospitalized after sustaining multiple fractures to the lower right leg while engaged in the un-cabling of a rail car. The employee slipped and fell while attempting to reduce the tension on the center beam ratchet.
2016-01-07	Newark	New Jersey	Harbor Freight Transport Corp.	Brain	Fall on same level, n.e.c.
An employee went to tighten a load on the back of a step deck trailer by pulling on a load strap and ratchet. While pulling on the load strap, he lost his balance and fell backwards, striking his head on the road's surface and requiring hospitalization.
2016-01-05	Saint Augustine	Florida	Picolata Produce Farms, Inc.	Forehead	Injured by handheld object or equipment
An employee was struck in the forehead by a ratchet chain binder handle.
2015-11-03	Beaumont	Texas	Willbros Construction U.S., L.L.C.	Fingertip(s)	Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment
Two employees were bolting round flanges into a pipeline formation. One employee was torqueing with a ratchet while the other was holding a multiplier that was attached to the ratchet with the use of an extender. There was another 2" flange (which extended further out than the flange that was being bolted) that was in the middle of the flange that they were bolting. They were torqueing the bolts on the flange in sequence/series. When they started the last round of torqueing, the employee hol
2015-09-01	Weatherford	Texas	The Elite Fleet	Ankle(s)	Slip on vehicle without fall-nontransport
An employee strapping down cargo on a flatbed trailer slipped from the ratchet socket and twisted his ankle.
2015-08-26	Apopka	Florida	Hawkins, Inc.	Finger(s), fingernail(s)	Struck against stationary object or equipment, n.e.c.
An employee was adjusting a ratchet strap on a flat bed truck when his hand slipped off of the adjusting bar severely cutting his finger that required surgery and hospitalization.
2015-06-09	Passaic	New Jersey	FERGUSON ENTERPRISES, INC.	Chest, except internal location of diseases or disorders	Fall on same level, n.e.c.
An employee was loading material onto a rack in the bed of a pickup truck, and was in the process of tightening a ratchet strap to secure the load. As the employee was tightening the ratchet strap, the employee fell and struck his torso on the opposite side of the bed, breaking five ribs. The employee was hospitalized overnight.
2015-05-12	Springfield	Massachusett	FIRST STUDENT, INC.	Ankle(s)	Fall on same level, n.e.c.
An employee was working on a brake caliper bolt that was stuck on the brakes of a school bus. The employee applied force to the ratchet, which freed the bolt and caused the employee to fall, roll, and break his right ankle. He was hospitalized and required surgery.
2015-04-22	Spring City	Tennessee	Tennessee Valley Authority	Multiple body parts	Other fall to lower level less than 6 feet
An employee was working approximately 10 feet inside of a box truck, preparing materials for shipping. He was tightening a ratchet strap to secure gas cylinders. His hand slipped off of the strap and he stumbled approximately 10 feet backwards. He fell out of the back of the truck, approximately 4 feet to the concrete parking lot, and broke his left femur and hip. He was hospitalized and required surgery.
2015-02-05	Lincoln	Nebraska	BRB CONTRACTORS, INC.	Leg(s)	Fall on same level, n.e.c.
An employee was tightening a bolt on a 16" pipe flange located 6" off the floor with a 3/4" ratchet wrench. The wrench broke, causing the employee to fall backwards and hit the ground. Upon falling to the ground, the employee's leg was fractured.