Crystal Plant: 77 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

The employee and two co-workers were removing a 4' x 4' fan housing from a wall opening when the employee felt a sudden pain in left shoulder.

Employee was removing coil from electric valve when the valve busted causing scrubber water to run down behind employees safety glasses into EE's eyes. Took to have eyes checked to ensure no damage. Employee was prescribed antibiotics to prevent infection. No damage reported.

While cutting a piece of rubber tubing, employee, using a utility knife, sliced the rubber towards EE's body instead of away, the blank ran up EE's thumb opening up a one-inch cut. EE was taken immediately to the local hospital and was given aid. The attending physician sewed up the cut with 8 stitches and immediately released EE to full duty.

The mechanic was lifting glassware into place, the tubing slipped in EE's grip, glass edge tore through glove lacerating EE's upper forearm. The cut was approximately one inch wide, requiring four stitches. 0 days light duty, and full release after suture removal.

Employee was placing a gearbox (5lbs) on a reactor and when EE tried to stand up EE felt a tightness in lower back.

As part of the company's medical surveillance program, the employee was diagnosed 12/29 /2015 by a NIOSH Certified B-Reader with pleural plaques. Suspected cause is exposure to mineral fiber while working at the Green Mountain, NC mining operation in the 1970's,1980's and 1990's which mined and processed Olivine. The employee has not missed any work due to his condition.

The miner was emptying 100 lb. bags of material from a pallet elevated over a waste hopper. As he moved a bag of material to the front of the pallet, to empty the bag, the weight of the bags broke some of the pallet slats. This caused three bags of material to fall from the pallet and one of the bags struck the miner on his right leg and ankle, twisting his ankle.

While installing wire racks in the warehouse,the employee cut the back of his right hand on a sharp edge of the wire rack.

Two employees were carrying a section of drill casing to a drill rig by hand. One of the employees slipped in the muddy conditions and dropped his end of the pipe. This put strain on the other employee all of the sudden and he stated that he experienced pain in his lower right back area and his upper left shoulder area.

The miner was moving drums of material that were sitting on a wooden pallet, to seperate the drums. He felt pain in his left wrist, which at the time seemed very minor. The miner continued his duties, but due to worsening pain, which he reported today 7-15-10 he was sent to dr for evaluation. the injury became reportable as a result of the dr's report on 7/15/10

EE was walking from his pickup truck to his road tractor when he slipped and fell on ice in the parking lot behind the Unimum Crystal Plant at the loading dock. He was taken to the emergency room at Blue Ridge Hospital. The ice was from the 12 plus inches of snow & ice received on 12/18/09 & 12/19/09.

While positioning drums on a pallet, the miner slipped on the forks of a forklift which was parked behind him with the forks flat on the floor. The miner fell backwards twisting his knee as he fell to the floor.

The miner was lifiting and moving 50 lb bags of filter media when he sprained his back.

The employee was kneeling on top of a tank while removing the tank lid. The lid was tilted and some liquid spilled onto the tank and soaked into the employee's pants, at the knee, and then onto the employee's skin. The liquid contained HF acid, which caused a burn.

Employee was picking up a vacuum hose to start clean up on his floor, some loose sand was laying inside the hose and was flipped up into the employe's eyes.

The employee was standing on a wooden pallet lifting a 60 lb. sample box and dumping it into a tote. One of the pallet slats broke, causing the employee to lose his balance. The sample box he was lifting struck his left leg just above the knee, causing his knee to bend backwards, resulting in a sprain to his left knee.

The miner was helping replace the lid on top of an acid storage tank. When he put his right knee down on to the top of the tank, he came in contact with acid which burned his knee just below the knee cap.

The miner was cutting a plastic vacuum hose, using a pocket knife. The knife slipped when the blade hit a thin section of the hose, resulting in a cut to the miner's left hand.

Employee was lifting and streching forward in order to move an electric motor into the bed of a company truck, when he felt pain in his lower back.

Employee was lifting bags of filter media with his left arm and opening the bags with his right hand using a utility knife. He lifted approximately 450 bags from 11 AM until 2 PM. No problem was noticed until the following morning when swelling and some pain was present in this left elbow.

Employee was inside a tank checking the tank lining using a hand held portable light. While his head was tilted forward a drop of liguid fell feom the top of the tank, striking the top edge of his safety glasses and splashed into his left eye causing a burning sensation.

Employee was cutting plastic banding from a loaded pallet using his pocket knife. He failed to cut completly through one piece of the banding, the knife slipped and cut him on the left forearm.

The employee walked between a hopper and the wall. His shoulder brushed the fire extinguisher which fell on his left foot.

An employee was removing a 4 ft. piece of sch. 80 4 in. pipe from the vent on a reactor. Injured employee saw that the pipe was falling and tried to catch it. The pipe hit his right hand and broke his ring finger.

GOT OUT OF BUCKET ON THE LIFT AND STOOD ON A TANK THEN STEPPED OVER ON A 1 1/2" INSULATED PIPE THAT RAN DOWN THE WALL NEXT TO WHERE THE SIDING WAS BEING INSTALLED. THE BRACE THAT HELD THE PIPE PULLED LOOSE FROM THE WALL AND HE FELL APPROX 11'6" TO A CONCRETE FLOOR. WE'RE NOT SURE IF HE HIT HIS HEAD ON A METAL TANK OR THE CONCRETE. HE WAS LYING ON THE FLOOR IN A SPOT APPROX 5'6"WID

EE WAS GOING UP FLIGHT OF STEPS TO WASTE PLANT TOO FAST, NOT PAYING ATTENTION OR USING HANDRAILS. HE TRIPPED IN-BETWEEN STEPS AND LANDED ON HIS FACE.

EMPLOYEE WAS WASHING HIS TRUCK AFTER AND AHC1 CLOUD DISPERSED OVER HIS TRUCK. HE WAS PUTTING A HOSE BACK ON THE RACK AND WAS LEAVING THE BUILDING WHEN HE SLIPPED ON THE CAF SOLIDS ON THE WASTE PLANT FLOOR. HE LANDED ON HIS RIGHT SIDE SCRAPING HIS RIGHT LEG. THE AHC1 CLOUD DEVELOPED BECAUSE OF A REACTOR PLUGGED UP.

EE WAS FILLING PLASTIC HOPPERS. STATIC CHARGED MATERIAL FLEW INTO HIS EYE AS HE WAS WALKING PAST THE PIPE THAT WAS FILLING THE HOPPER.

EE WAS INSTALLING METAL BAND ON A PALLET OF FINISHED PRODUCT. WHILE HE WAS PULLING THE BANDING THRU THE BOTTOM OF THE PALLET, HIS HAND CAME IN CONTACT WITH A SECTION OF THE METAL BANDING THAT HAD A RAZOR LIKE EDGE, CUTTING HIS FINGERS. HE RECEIVED 5 STITCHES ON HIS MIDDLE FINGER, 4 STITCHES ON HIS RING FINGER AND 2 STITCHES ON HIS LITTLE FINGER.

EMPLOYEE WAS CLIMBING DOWN FROM THE DRUM FILTER WORK PLATFORM. HIS RING ON HIS FINGER GOT CAUGHT ON A BRACE THAT HOLDS THE DRIVE MOTOR GUARD IN PLACE. THE RING TORE THE SKIN ON HIS FINGER.

EMPLOYEE WAS LOOSENING A BOLT WITH A WRENCH. THE BOLT BROKE CAUSING THE EMPLOYEE TO GO FORWARD HITTING HIS NOSE ON A PIECE OF ANGLE IRON. THIS RESULTED IN A BROKEN NOSE.

EE HAD DISMANTLED THE GRIDS IN THE SALA MAGNET. THE POWER SUPPLY WAS CUT OFF, WHEN IT WAS RESTARTED TO CLEAN THE DRAIN LINE THE MAGNETIC FIELD WAS ENERGIZED AND THE GRID WAS SUCKED FROM EE HAN D CAUSING A CUT ON HIS FINGER.

EE WAS BRUSHING SAND FROM GLASSWARE THAT FEEDS THE I-6 COOLER. HE BUMPED HIS HAND AGAINST THE HOT GLASSWARE CAUSING A 2ND DEGREE BURN.

EMPLOYEE WAS WALKING PAST ANOTHER EMPLOYEE THAT WAS GRINDING METAL WITH THE GRINDER. A PIECE OF STEEL FROM THE GRINDING DISC FLEW INTO HIS RIGHT EYE. EMPLOYEE DID HAVE HIS SAFETY GLASSES ON BU T THE METAL GOT PAST THE GLASSES FROM THE SIDE ANGLE.

EMPLOYEE WAS CUTTING INSULATION OFF AN ELECTRIC AL WIRE WHILE WORKING ON A FORKLIFT DRUM DUMPER.THE KNIFE SLIPPED AND CUT THE PALM OF HIS HAND. STITCHES WERE REQUIRED.

EMPL DISMANTLING HF ACID BALL CHECK VALVE FOR WEAR INSPECTION. EMPL WAS FULLY DRESSED WITH PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT BUT GLOVES HAD A PINHOLE IN LEFT GLOVE. EMPL RECD ACID BURNS THROUGH THE GLOVES.

INSTALLING VENT LINE STANDING ON STEP ON LADDER FELL BACK

EMPLOYEE'S FOOT SLIPPED OFF A WOODEN PALLET, CAUSING HIM TO FALL ON HIS RIGHT KNEE.

EMPLOYEE WORKS IN THE LOADING DEPARTMENT, AND CONTINUOUS MOVING AND LIFTING OF HEAVY BAGS AND DRUMS CAUSED CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME.

CONTRACTOR WAS GUIDING A PUMP BOX INTO PLACE, WHEN THE CHAIN SECURING THE LOAD SLIPPED, DROPPEING BOX ONTO HIS HEAD AND BACK. THE LOAD WAS BEING MOVED USING A MONORAIL.

EMPL WAS LOWERING MOTOR & GAR DRIVE INTO POSITION WITH CHAIN HOIST & AS HE WAS ALIGNING BOLT HOLES RIGHT HAND WAS CAUGHT BETWEEN MOTOR & STEEL FRAME. ACTION CAUSED CONTUSION OF EMPLS RIGHT HAN D.

CLIMBING DOWN LADDER SLIPPED TWISTING R KNEE EMP 3' FROM FLOOR ACC OCC

EMPLOYEE WAS PULLING UP A BUCKET OF WATER OUT OF A WATER TANK AND HURT HIS LOWER BACK.

THE INJURED JUMPED DOWN OFF A FIBRE BOARD DRUM APPROXIMATELY 34" HIGH AND TWISTED OR SPRAINED HIS RIGHT KNEE.HE FINISHED HIS SHIFT THAT DAY AND WENT TO THE DOCTOR THE FOLLOWING MORNING.

EMPLOYEE WAS HELPING MOVE A 55 GALLON DRUM FROM A LOADING DOCK TO A PICKUP, WHEN HE FELT A SHARP PAIN IN HIS LOWER BACK.

EMPLOYEE WAS RE4OVING A PAPER TABLET FROM A DISPLAY BOARD WHENT HE BOARD FELL ON HIS LEFT FOOT CAUSING A CONTUSION.