# Fractures at PORTS AMERICA LOUISIANA, INC.
> OSHA SIR `2022076153` · 7/14/2022 · NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
## Severity
- **1 hospitalization**
- **Body part:** Lumbar region
- **Nature of injury:** Fractures
## Cause
- **Event:** Struck by falling object or equipment, n.e.c.
- **Source:** Bundles, bales
## Employer
- **Name:** PORTS AMERICA LOUISIANA, INC.
- **Location:** Nashville Open Wharf, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, 70115
- **NAICS:** 483211
- **Jurisdiction:** 1
## Narrative

An employee was unloading 639-pound bundles of plywood from a shipping container using a forklift. The employee aligned the forklift with the right most bundle. He then dismounted the forklift and tilted the braced bundle toward his forklift, easing the bundle down to lay flat. As he turned to get back onto his forklift, the unbraced bundle tipped forward, striking the employee in the lower back and knocking him over. The employee sustained a fracture to the L2 vertebra and was hospitalized.

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*Source: [OSHA Severe Injury Reports](https://www.osha.gov/severe-injury-reports) · MORVS · CC0 1.0*