Employees Injured in Industrial Accidents

Croswell, MI (WorkersCompensation.com) – An employee lost her arm in a Michigan sugar plant recently, one of several worker injuries at work sites over the past few weeks.

Officials said a 43-year-old female employee at a Michigan Sugar Co. plant was cleaning a section of scroll at a plant in Croswell, Mich., when her arm was severed “just below the elbow.”

“At some point while her arm was in the machine, it powered back up,” Croswell Police Chief Ron Buckmaster said. “How that managed to happen, we don’t know.”

Buckmaster said the blade was an auger which does not have a smooth edge, or a “clean cut.”

“It would definitely be very painful,” he said.

Officials said two tourniquets were applied on the woman’s arm before she was taken to a nearby hospital.

The incident is being investigated by the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Michigan Sugar Safety Department.

“Our Safety Department, working in cooperation with outside agencies, is leading a full-scale investigation into the incident,” Michigan Sugar spokesman Rob Clark said in a statement. “The thoughts and prayers of everyone at Michigan Sugar Co. are with our team member and their family.”

In East Bridgewater, Mass., crews rescued an injured tree worker who was hit by a limb and trapped nearly 50 feet in the air.

The incident happened at about 11 a.m. on March 26, officials said.

According to police reports, the tree worker was secured in a safety harness and had climbed the tree carrying a chainsaw while using shoe spikes. Officials said the worker had been using the chainsaw when a piece of the tree kicked back and broke his arm.

Rescuer Ben Ferreira said he’d been training for that type of rescue for six years.

“The (worker’s) left arm did have an injury to his wrist region,” Ferreira said. “I had to be delicate working around that injury.”

Officials said the tree worker was stuck about 47 feet off the ground. His helmet had been knocked off and there was a communication barrier, officials said, but the worker was lucid, and the fire department was able to use translators to help the worker down. It took rescuers about an hour and a half to reach the injured worker, readjust his harnesses and begin lowering him to the ground, officials said.

The worker, a 47-year-old Brockton resident, was treated on the scene and then taken in an ambulance to Tufts Medical Center in Boston.

The incident is under investigation by officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

In Harmar, Penn., a worker at a brick manufacturing plant was injured by a piece of machinery.

On March 28, a worker at the Glen-Gery plant on Rich Hill Road was injured and taken to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. Harmar Police Chief Jason Domaratz said the worker was in his 30s.

No more information about the accident was provided, and the cause is still under investigation.

And in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials are investigating Dollywood after an employee was injured in March.

Officials with Dollywood said the employee was injured and flown to a nearby hospital.

Wes Ramey, the park’s media representative, confirmed that an employee was injured at the park.

“Dollywood confirms that an incident at the park earlier today resulted in an employee injury,” Ramey said. “Onsite paramedics responded, and the employee was airlifted to a nearby medical facility. At this time, our priority is supporting our employee and gathering information. An update will be provided if information becomes available to share.”

The incident happened on March 10. Since then, the park has opened to the public and no other incidents have been reported. The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development is investigating the accident. Chris Cannon, spokesman with the department, said TOSHA is preparing to investigate the park.

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