How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 29,560 severe finger injury cases between 2015 and 2025. The vast majority of these incidents involve amputations, avulsions, or enucleations, which account for 87% of all reported severe cases.
Your fingers are essential for the fine motor skills and grip strength required in your trade. An injury to this body part often results in long-term disability, limiting your ability to perform your job duties and reducing your future earning capacity.
Lost a finger on the job? Check what benefits you may be owed.
Check My BenefitsHow these injuries happen
Most finger injuries occur when you are caught or entangled in running powered equipment, which accounts for 41% of all reported incidents. These injuries often happen during normal operation when safety guards are missing or bypassed, or when you are forced to clear jams in machinery without proper lockout procedures.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caught, entangled in running powered equipment— normal operation | 11,502 |
| 2 | Compressed between running equipment and other object(s) | 4,378 |
| 3 | Struck by rolling, sliding, or shifting objects—non-running | 2,317 |
| 4 | Struck by running powered equipment— unspecified | 1,890 |
| 5 | Injured by object handled by person | 1,623 |
| 6 | Struck by falling object | 1,569 |
| 7 | Struck by running powered equipment— during maintenance, cleaning, testing | 1,028 |
| 8 | Struck by suspended or swinging object | 794 |
Where injuries happen most
Manufacturing accounts for 54% of all severe finger injuries, largely due to your constant interaction with high-speed machinery. In these environments, even a momentary lapse in safety protocols or a failure in equipment guarding can lead to life-altering finger trauma.
Real cases like yours
Many reported incidents follow a recurring pattern where you are injured while clearing jams, performing routine maintenance, or handling heavy materials that shift unexpectedly. These reports highlight how quickly kinetic energy or mechanical failure can lead to partial or total finger amputation. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you review the specifics of your incident.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | GA | Construction | "Employees were removing a damaged uninterrupted power supply (UPS) from an audio/visual rack system. The injured employee was pulling from the front. Two other employees were pushing from the rear when they lost their grip. The UPS fell, pinching the injured employee s middle finger against the floor. The employee's fingertip was partially amputated without bone loss." | |
| 2025 | MO | Professional Services | "A veterinarian was listening to a cat's heart when the cat bit their left thumb. The employee was hospitalized for treatment. " | |
| 2025 | CO | Agriculture | "Two employees were operating a wood splitter. An employee was loading wood into the splitter when the tip of his right thumb was crushed between the rear end of the wood and the back metal plate of the wood splitter. The employee's thumb tip was amputated." | |
| 2025 | WI | Manufacturing | "An employee was performing routine maintenance on an air valve when their right ring finger became caught in the valve. The employee sustained an amputation to the fingertip. " | |
| 2025 | PA | Manufacturing | "An employee was operating equipment to cut a copper pipe (20 feet in length, 2 inches in diameter) when a jam occurred between the revolver assembly and the pinch roller assembly. He assessed the jam and determined that the copper pipe needed to be cut using a battery-powered reciprocating saw. He made two cuts on the pipe with the reciprocating saw. When the second cut was finished, kinetic energy stored within the pipe due to the jam released, and the pipe struck the employee's left hand. The employee's index fingertip was partially amputated before the first knuckle without bone loss." | |
| 2025 | TX | Manufacturing | "A subcontracted engineer was advising maintenance how to make a modification to the embossing roll system on a new line. Maintenance was bringing the motor and gearbox down with a crane. The load shifted when it was a few inches from the ground. The engineer went to catch/maneuver the gearbox and the fingers on his left hand were crushed between the I-beam base of the gearbox and the concrete floor. A finger was amputated." | |
| 2025 | TX | Other Services | "A driver was doing a pre-trip inspection on a tractor when their fingers got caught in a fan belt and the tops of two fingers were amputated." | |
| 2025 | MO | Manufacturing | "An employee was working to move an oscillating fan when the guard fell off. His left hand contacted the metal fan blades, resulting in cuts to the index, middle, and ring fingers, and amputation of the little finger above the first knuckle." | |
| 2025 | OH | Manufacturing | "On July 30, 2025, an employee was cutting wood with a radial arm saw when the saw amputated their left middle and ring fingers." | |
| 2025 | PA | Manufacturing | "An employee was operating a draw bench and was adjusting some material that bent during processing. He went to straighten the bent material and the jaws that pull the material came back and struck his left little fingertip. The employee's fingertip was amputated." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.