OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #221410749

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES

BROWNSVILLE, TX· 2021-11-03T00:00:00

Event: Amputated, Amputation, Crane, Crushed, Falling Object, Finger, Hand, Laceration, Magnet, Manual Mat Handling, Overloaded, Partial Amputation, Steel Tube, Struck By, Thumb
NAICS: 927110
Inspection type: Referral
Activity number: #345635569
Employer profile: SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES
Summary number: 221410749
Report ID: 0626000
Project type: A
Construction end-use: P

Event description

Employee suffers finger amputation when steel tubing falls

Investigation abstract

At 11:15 a.m. on November 3, 2021, an employee was working for a firm engaged in the GSE shop where it would be fitted into a steel box frame. The two employees were guiding the tubing with their hands on the load. The tubing released from the lifting magnet and fell onto the left hand of the employee. His supervisor, working with other employees, made several attempts, using the magnet, to lift the load. Eventually they were able to lift the load slightly, enabling the employee to pull his left hand out from under the load. The employee suffered a partial amputation of the ring finger on his left hand in addition to crushing injuries to and lacerations of the middle finger and thumb on the left hand. He was hospitalized. The employee also required surgery. At the time the narrative was written, he was still receiving long term therapy treatments. The employer space research and technology. He worked as a plumber, pipefitter, and had failed to ensure that employees conducted a pre-lift test by hoisting and lowering the crane's apparatus, although that was required. steamfitter. He and a coworker were working in the GSE shop. They were moving a section of square steel tubing. It was 12 in across and 12 ft long (300 mm across and 3.6 m long). It weighed 500 lbs. (230 kg). They were moving the tubing with ac lifting magnet attached to a manual-remote gantry crane. The weight limit for the magnet was 300 lbs. (136 kg). Its capacity had been surpassed by 200 lbs. (90 kg). The workers had lifted the piece 1 to 3 ft (0.3 to 0.9 m) above the concrete surface. They were maneuvering it to a location in

Victim

#1 Hospitalized Age 40 M

Event type
14

Occupation code
585

Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.