Research and Development in the Physical Engineering and Life Sciences

NarrativeAt 11:00 a.m. on October 31, 2017, Employee #1 was attempting to clear corn stalks from a John Deere 9750 STS Combine. The retrofitted blower was not working properly. The employee turned off the combine with the key located in the cab, but did not perform the lockout procedure. Employee #1 moved around to the location of the chopper blades to clear more material from the blades. He reached into the still rotating blades, and sustained an amputation of his right hand.

NarrativeAt 4:03 p.m. on September 8, 2017, an employee was working under a fume hood with a container of homogenized plant material with ethanol in a 5,000 ml glass Pyrex beaker. The Pyrex beaker had been placed on a heating plate. A mixing rod on a fixed mixer machine was extended into this beaker in order to mix the plant material in a 200 proof ethanol solution. The employee was also manually turning the beaker while adding additional heat to the solution with a heat gun. The employee moved the beaker close enough to the mixing blade at the tip of the mixing rod such that the mixing blade impacted with the internal side of the glass beaker. The glass shattered upon impact and the flammable mixture of plant extract and ethyl alcohol sprayed out of the opening, contacting the heating element of the heat gun. An explosion occurred that contacted the employee's hands and torso. He sustained second degree burns, which he was hospitalized and received treatment.

NarrativeAt approximately 10:35 p.m. on December 2, 2016, maintenance workers were on th e roof of a 3-story office building making roofing repairs. They asked the emp loyee to tie a rope around the handle of a dolly so that they could hoist it up to the roof using a rope and pulley. The employee tied the rope around the ha ndle. A wheel from the dolly came loose and fell down three stories from the ro of, striking the employee on his forehead and forearm. The employee was taken t o urgent care to get check out. The employee was then referred to the local ho spital emergency room where tests were performed and was diagnosed with a mild concussion. The employee died in his sleep 30-days later.