OSHA investigating workplace accident at Illinois snowboard park

On behalf of Jeffrey Frederick of Frederick & Hagle posted in Workplace Accidents on Tuesday, March 11, 2014.

Investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are looking into an incident that happened at a snowboard park in Illinois. The workplace accident took place at the top of a conveyor lift near the ski area. It resulted in a serious injury to one of the park employees.

The employee, a 17-year-old whose name was not released, was discovered in the ski area by one of his coworkers. He was in a pit that was located at the top of the ski area. The teen was conscious but had suffered a serious injury to one of his arms, which was caught in the conveyor lift.

Emergency personnel worked for around an hour to extricate the teen’s arm from the conveyor lift in which it was imprisoned. He was taken immediately by air ambulance to an Illinois hospital. An update on his condition was not available at the time of this report.

OSHA officials say they will investigate whether any safety violations were responsible for causing the accident. The investigation will be composed of employee interviews and a close examination of any machinery involved. It will also examine whether sufficient training was offered to employees who worked on the equipment in question.

The investigation is expected to last for up to six months. The snowboard park at which the accident occurred may stay open for business while it takes place, according to reports. The teenage employee who suffered the serious injury in this workplace accident may be eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits. Any resulting compensation could be used to cover the cost of current and future medical bills and make up for any lost wages.

Source: Chicago Tribune, OSHA launches probe of accident at snowboard park, Amanda Marrazzo, March 3, 2014