COLUMBIA PLANT Metal/Non-Metal

Technician was tapping on dust collector piping when debris fell between EE's eyes and EE's safety glasses. EE immediately rubbed the right eye and started to feel some discomfort. EE finished the shift and went home. EE woke up that afternoon and EE's eye was irritated and red so EE flushed it out numerous times.

employee was hooking up a new 2 1/2 inch hose to a booster pump located at the plant. The hose was brand new and was raveled and kinked up prior to putting water pressure to it. The employee had a grip on the hose as the pressure increased it began to unwind, the hose caught the employee's right thumb and twisted it.

the Load out operator had just finished loading a flour truck, moved the loadout spout, tied up the dust collector spout and was on top of the truck closing the back hatch when the truck started to move forward and they lost balance somewhat. The employee regained their balance and was then at the end of their self retracting lanyard and fell to the ground.

SIC EMPLOYEE was unloading the boxes, they reached over the side of the truck and into the bed to lift the box out. When they brought the box up and over the bed of the truck they felt a slight catch in their back. On 2/11/19 employee went to Occupational Health (A Lexington Medical Center Practice where they were given a prescription for pain.

Office worker was moving 20lb boxes of copy paper when she said she hurt her back but didn't think it was serious. She came back to work on Monday and seemed to be normal on Tuesday she claimed it was worse and then an appointment was made on Wednesday and the doctor said it was a muscle strain.

Miner was performing routine tasks carrying samples in a 5 gallon bucket down some steps and felt a pull in his shoulder. Minor first aid was performed and the miner claimed he felt fine. This injury didn't affect his job until 4/17/15.

EE was using an 8 x 8 Trash Pump, pumping sand and water from a clarifier. The employee, while standing knee deep in water and sand used his foot to push / adjust or move the 8" suction hose. Shortly thereafter his right foot got caught in the suction flow and pulled his leg into the pipe. EE received a severe contusion that required medical attention.

The maintenance employee was checking the wet process float cells. The employee climbed up the feed end of the float cell bank and reached up and grabbed a small guard at the top of the cells. He got his ring finger caught in the pulley on the backside of the pulley causing a cut and a fracture of the end of the finger.

Employee was driving the company pickup and was crossing a RR track but failed to notice that the sand normally between the rails had been cleaned out leaving a 5" drop. Even though the employee was wearing his seat belt and hard hat he bounced up into the cab roof and injured his neck. Lack of visibility was the main contribution to the incident.

Employee was cleaning a filter table and was about to step up to the table when he lost his balance and fell to the same level bruising his hip.

Employee was moving a 1.75" x 40" circular steel part. The part was waist high resting on a pallet and was supported by a forklift. Employee slid the part to the side and it tipped over the edge. While the employee was easing the front edge to the floor the opposite side fell off the forks and struck the employee's left foot causing a hairline fracture of the metatarsal.

A level insicator and a heating elemnet within a double walled 500-gallon tank ignited combustible gasses within the tank. This ignition ruptured the vessel at the top seam resulting in a horizontal gash approximatley 16" long and 4" wide. Damage was limited to only this tank.

Employee was releasing a torque tool that was used to close a gate door on the bottom of a railcar. Pressure was applied to the tool handle and the release button was pressed. The handle slipped from the employee's grip, spinned around and struck the back of employee's right hand fracturing the 5th metacarpal.

The mechanic was removing a lid from a 4' x10' rotex screen. The lid was lifted from the screen and placed on the floor directly beside the screen. During the lift the mechanic felt pain in his chest and shoulder. The employee was taken to the doctor and diagnosed with strain to the chest/shoulder and placed on restricted duty.

Employee stepped up on an bracket (16" X 12") located 22" above the ground floor. From here he was using a hammer to hit an air-slide located 7 to 9" above the bracket he was standing. Employee lost his balance and fell 22" into stationary machinery in the area. Employee sustained a laceration to the forehead that required 10 stitches and multiple bruises.

The employee, working in the shop area, tripped over welding leads attached to the center work bench. He fell forward to the same level and his left hand rolled up between the floor and his chest fracturing the 5th metacarpel.

The miner was replacing a threaded rod that was connected to a knife gate and small electric motor. A 17" pry bar was used to feed the rod/gate into position. He had already fed the bar 3" to 4" into position by pinching the threaded rod when the pry bar slipped. The handle struck his face on the right cheek causing a one inch cut that required suture by a physician.

While working on a broken water line in front of wet process, he had dug a ditch to expose the break. He needed to get to the far side of the ditch. He stepped across. The sand on the far side of the ditch was soft and when stepping across the sand gave way under his weight and he strained his left calf muscle.

EE WAS USING 2 PIECES OF ANGLE IRON TO LEVEL A STEEL PILLAR. THE PILLAR SHIFTED AND THE ANGLE IRON ROLLED, CRUSHING EE'S RIGHT THUMB UNDER STEEL PILLAR'S BASE.

EE WAS WELDING A MOTOR BASE WEARING A WELDING HOOD AND NO SAFETY GLASSES. THERE WAS A GRINDER ONT HE WORK TABLE AND IT WAS ACCIDENTLY STARTED WHEN THE EE LEANED OVER. THE GRINDING WHEEL THREW FOREIGN MATTER UNDER WELDING HOOD AND INTO EE S EYE. THE EE WAS NOT WEARING SAFETY GLASSES.

EE WAS ON UPPER LEVEL OF HYDROSIZER AND LIFTED SAFETY BAR TO STEP DOWN ON THE GRATE ABOVE HYDROSIZER. HE DID NOT REPLACE BAR IN THE HORIZONTAL POSITION AND THE BAR CAME DOWN AND STRUCK THE TIP OF THE EE;S RIGHT RING FINGER.

EE WAS DRILLING HOLES INTO A PIECE OF STEEL, WHEN THE BIT BOUND UP CAUSING THE STEEL TO SPIN AND STRIKE EE HAND.

VICTIM WAS ON THE GROUND BESIDE THE E BELT TAIL PULLEY USING AN UTILITY KNIFE TO CUT CONVEYOR BELTING TO USE AS SKIRTING WHEN A TRUCK DROVE INTO THE WORK AREA STARTLING HIM. EE TURNED AROUND Q UICKLY AND IN DOING SO, CUT HIS FINGER WITH THE UTILITY KNIFE. HE WAS NOT WEARING GLOVES AT THE TIME. EE RECEIVED SIX STITCHES TO HIS LEFT INDEX FINGERS.

EMPLOYEE WAS WALKING DOWN THE STAIRS OUTSIDE THE MILL BUILDING. ABOUT 5-6 STEPS AWAY FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIRS HE SLIPPED ON A PIECE OF GRINDING MEDIA AND FELL DWON THE STAIRS. HE REPORTED PAIN IN HIS LEG, ARM, AND BACK AND WAS IMMEDIATELY TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL.