Severe Workplace Injuries in Rifle, Colorado
Employers in Rifle reported 10 severe work injuries to OSHA from 2015 through June 2025: 7 workers hospitalized and 3 amputations (30% of reports). Mining, oil and gas accounts for the most reports. OSHA opened an inspection after 2 of them.
Reports by year
Industries
How workers were hurt
Parts of the body injured
OSHA inspections in Rifle since 2015
Workplace safety inspectors opened 16 inspections at Rifle workplaces, and 11 of them (69%) ended with at least one violation. Inspectors cited 17 serious, 0 willful and 0 repeat violations, with current penalties totaling $79,772.
Rules cited most often:
Recent inspections with penalties
| Employer | Violations | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Ensign United States Drilling Inc. (referral, details) | 1 | $5,692 |
| Sustainable Hydroponics & Organic Garden Supply (complaint, details) | 2 (2 serious+) | $4,688 |
| Jbr Corporation, Inc (referral, details) | 4 (1 serious+) | $13,125 |
| Shalestone, Inc. (fatality/catastrophe, details) | 1 (1 serious+) | $13,052 |
| Sooner, Inc. (fatality/catastrophe, details) | 3 (2 serious+) | $20,000 |
| Professional Business Solutions Of Western Colorado, Inc. (referral, details) | 1 | $4,275 |
| Mesa Completion Services, LLC (unprogrammed, details) | 4 (2 serious+) | $2,500 |
| Ken's Pit Stop (complaint, details) | 7 (5 serious+) | $3,394 |
| Sunland Investment, LLC (complaint, details) | 5 (3 serious+) | $2,897 |
| Willow Creek Companies (fatality/catastrophe, details) | 2 | $8,149 |
| Cbr Enterprises, LLC (referral, details) | 1 (1 serious+) | $2,000 |
Penalties as currently recorded by OSHA; they can drop after settlement or contest. Inspection data covers federal OSHA inspections and state-run safety program inspections reported to OSHA.
Most recent reports
The 10 newest severe injury reports from Rifle employers, as OSHA published them.
Jun 24, 2025 · Triple A Mountain Water Proofing Hospitalized
While on a scaffold, an employee was transporting heated sealant material in a bucket. The employee tripped and fell, causing the heated material to splash onto his gloved hands. The employee sustained second-degree burns to both hands and his right wrist.
Fall on same level resulting in exposure or contact · Hand(s) and wrist(s) · Construction
Feb 7, 2025 · Accelerated Mobile Power (AMP) Amputation
An employee was on a 4-foot podium ladder when the wind blew it over. He fell, and his left middle fingertip was amputated.
Fall to lower level from collapsing structure or equipment less than 6 feet · Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s) · Mining, oil and gas
May 19, 2024 · Fluid Pro, LLC Amputation
An employee was dewatering water base mud from inside the dewatering unit. They were standing at the transfer tank monitoring the discharged fluid from the centrifuge to make sure it was free of solids. The employee rotated the 6" pipe and 90-degree elbow so that the fluid would dump into the other side of the transfer tank and reached with his right hand to pull on the handle attached to the elbow. When the employee pulled on the handle to rotate the elbow, the elbow fell off and landed on his left hand which was resting on the divider wall below. The employee suffered blunt force trauma to the left hand that caused a laceration to the ring fingertip requiring stitches and an amputation to the middle fingertip.
Struck by dislodged or detached object(s) · Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s) · Mining, oil and gas
Jul 15, 2022 · CC Enterprises - Traffic Control Specialists, Inc. Hospitalized
An employee was walking on the shoulder of a highway with the nearest lane closed, inspecting road signs. A car entered the closed lane, went onto the shoulder, and struck the employee, who suffered a broken left tibia.
Pedestrian struck by forward-moving vehicle in work zone · Lower leg(s) · Construction · OSHA inspection 1608664
Dec 16, 2021 · R J Mann & Associates Hospitalized
An employee was standing on a bin to reach supplies. His boot caught on the bin and he fell to the ground, suffering a broken hip.
Other fall to lower level · Hip(s) · Wholesale trade
Nov 10, 2018 · Professional Business Solutions of Western Colorado, Inc. Hospitalized
An employee was climbing onto an out of service frac tank. At the top of the tank, he tripped on a rope and fell about 9' 4'' to the ground. He experienced three broken ribs, a concussion, a fractured wrist, a ruptured spleen, ad a collapsed lung. His personal fall arrest harness was not tied off to an anchor point at the time of the incident.
Other fall to lower level 6 to 10 feet · Head and trunk · Administrative, staffing and waste services · OSHA inspection 1361291
Feb 7, 2018 · Gonzo LLC Hospitalized
An employee was driving to an oil and gas site and drove into a river/ditch.
Ran off roadway · Nonclassifiable · Mining, oil and gas
Jul 5, 2017 · Sage Telecommunications Corporation Hospitalized
An employee was installing a down guy-wire on an overhead cable TV facility when the tail of the wire contacted the overhead powerline. The employee received an electrical shock and was hospitalized.
Indirect exposure to electricity, greater than 220 volts · Body systems · Information
Nov 20, 2016 · Par Electrical Contractors Inc. Amputation
An employee was attempting to free wire that was hung up in a dolly. When the wire was freed, it pulled his left hand into the dolly, partially amputating his left pinky finger.
Entangled in other object or equipment · Finger(s), fingernail(s) · Utilities
Apr 6, 2015 · US Forest Service Hospitalized
An employee was exposed to mice feces particulates during shop facility cleanup on 4-6-15, where he contracted the Hantavirus.
Exposure to other harmful substance-multiple routes of exposure · Body systems · Agriculture, forestry and fishing
After a workplace injury in Colorado
Most work injuries are handled through workers' compensation, which pays medical bills and part of lost wages whether or not anyone was at fault, and usually rules out suing the employer. A separate claim may be possible against someone else, such as an equipment maker or another company on the site. Reporting deadlines are short, so tell your employer about an injury right away.
Workers compensation lawyers in Colorado
Lawbamba lists 270 workers compensation lawyers with an office in Colorado, the practice area that deals with the workplace injury and OSHA inspection records on this page. These 4 come first in that listing (how the order is set).
Matched by practice area and office location only. These lawyers are not connected to the records on this page and have not reviewed or endorsed it.
Hurt at work in Rifle?
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Source: OSHA's Severe Injury Reports, 2015 through November 2025 (loaded November 9, 2026). Employers must report any work-related amputation, loss of an eye or in-patient hospitalization to OSHA within 24 hours. Employer names, addresses and incident descriptions are as OSHA publishes them. A report records an injury, not a finding that the employer broke a rule; OSHA opens an inspection for some reports. The data covers workplaces under federal OSHA. States that run their own OSHA program (such as California, Washington, Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia) are mostly missing, and work-related deaths are reported separately.
Lawbamba is not affiliated with OSHA or the Department of Labor, and this page is general information, not legal advice.