All MSHA-reportable accidents at Lehigh Southwest Cement Company operations in 2015. Fatalities appear first.
A fuel line at the kiln burner failed catastrophically spilling MDF on the ground. This fuel then caught fire due to the radiant heat in the area, and was not able to be extinguished with in 30 minutes. No injuries or illnesses to report.
On Friday 02/13/2015, 1 Lehigh Employee and 3 B&B Industrial Services employees were entrapped in the PreHeat Tower elevator, when it stopped between the 4th and 5th Floors. Employees were entrapped a total of 50 minutes.
EE was inventorying idlers and stepped over one. His foot slipped and he hyperextended his knee.
EE was working in the shop, cleaning up scrap metal from the ground, next to a loader when the ee turned and felt a pop in his knee.
The person was attempting to remove a ""stuck"" bucket on a skid steer loader with two other people when it came free, dropping down to the ground and crushing his left foot. Three bones in his foot are broken and surgery is expected to be needed to repair according to the ER MD.
An employee was working to descale a sulphur ring at the feed end of the Kiln, he then discharged an air cannon that was missing an air line causing dust to enter the hood of his silver suit irritating his eye and obscuring his vision. The employee then proceeded to head to the service building and stepped into a pile of hot raw meal causing 2nd and 2rd degree burns to his legs.
Employee stepped on a rock walking down the East ramp of the rock dome causing him to slip and strain his left knee.
Employee was tearing out(demo) refract material when a small piece of refract fell and hit his right wrist. Took him to the doctor, diagnosed as wrist sprain.
Employee reported to work Monday morning with numbness in right hand, attributed to heavy welding and bolt torquing the previous week. He continued to work his normal job until 5/15/15, when he was transferred to a new position to accommodate healing. This created a restricted duty case and the reporting.
Employee was tearing out (demo) refract material when a piece fell and hit him in the right shin. He was taken to the clinic, had a contusion on his shin.
The EE in question was dismounting his work truck, when he lost his balance and fell backwards landing on the ground in a seated position, which resulted in a lower back strain.
The ee in question was assisting a coworker in releasing a tire trailer from the fifth wheel coupling on a tractor. The employee managed to get the pin to release and instructed his coworker to move the tractor forward. The EE in question was not aware of his body positioning, had his foot in the front of the tractor's rear tires, resulting in his foot getting run over.
Employee was pushing a toolbox onto a trailer, and was applying upward pressure to the handle when it broke, the employee's arms then continued in a upward motion at which point the employee's right forearm was sliced by the shorn retainer screw for the handle.
Employee was pulling a horizontal cartridge filter from a dust collector, when he stated he felt a pop in his right bicep.
The EE was working in a confined space to adjust the fan blades on a Booster Fan for a period of 6-8 hours on 2/21/2015. The EE stated that he experienced lower back pain the next day (Day Off) and was taken to the clinic on Monday 02/23/2015 and was diagnosed with a lower back strain.
The employee in question was stepping out of a work truck, with a razor knife in his left hand. The employee then put the knife in his right hand and attempted to put the knife in his right pocket when the knife opened slicing his right index finger requiring 4 sutures to close.
Employee was cleaning up in the basement of the pack house and slipped on a thin layer of hydrated cement that he was in the process of cleaning up resulting in a sprain to his left knee.
Employee was walking along the roadway on the East side of the switch yard and stepped on the edge of the concrete where it meets the dirt causing him to roll his ankle which resulted in a knee strain.
Employee parked the haul truck he was operating for a restroom break. While in restroom, he was playing with his personal pocket knife when it slipped out of his hand and cut his upper thigh. The cut was 1"" long and required medical attention. We bandaged him up and drove him to El Camino Urgent Care where he received a couple stitches. He was released an hour later.
Employee working to remove a loader tooth, struck by flying metal chip. Required physician to remove due to placement/size of object.
Arrived to work on 01/29/2015, informed his foreman that he had woken up and his right eye was swollen. On the night of 01/28 he had been welding/grinding/gouging as well as working in close proximity to other welders. He was taken to the doctors, particle removed from his right eye and he immediately returned to work with no restrictions.
EE was heading to trailer for lunch when he saw co-workers hung up on beam while making pick w/ crane. He walked into deep pan drag chain room crossing danger tape explaining hole in floor. A 4' x 4' section of grating was taken out to get equip in. When walking in eyes were focused at opening in wall where crane was flying equip in & never saw opening in floor & fell 8' to ground