A woman from Ohio was hospitalized after a severe, grotesque workplace injury. According to reports, the 25-year-old woman, from Norton, Ohio, was working at JR Engineering in Barberton, Ohio, when the majority of her scalp was ripped off after her hair was caught in a machine.
Any individual in such a situation should consider filing a workers’ compensation claim, but it was not clear if she has done so yet.
Reports indicate that the woman was working at the automotive parts company for six days when she went to clean out a machine she was using. It was around 11 p.m. when her long hair got caught in the machine. Her mother, who has worked at the same company for about 25 years, reported that her daughter’s hair was always pulled up when at work.
The machine pulled the woman in by her hair and ripped her scalp from just above her eyebrows to her neck. The 25-year-old begged coworkers to cut her free due to the pain she was in, but she was not released from the machine until emergency responders arrived. She was then flown to Akron General Medical Center. According to her family, surgeons managed to reattach about 75 percent of her scalp, but plastic surgery will likely be necessary.
According to reports, the company does not offer health insurance, and workers are required to assemble parts in an environment that can get considerably warm.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident, and an official from JR Engineering said that the company is also investigating.
Source: Boston Herald, “Ohio woman hospitalized after losing scalp in workplace accident,” Phil Trexler, July 4, 2012