How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 485 severe cases involving you being caught or wedged in nonrunning machinery over the last decade. Amputations, avulsions, and enucleations account for 80% of these incidents, representing the most frequent and life-altering injury type reported.
These events are uniquely dangerous because they often involve sudden mechanical shifts that trap your extremities. Finger injuries account for 88% of all cases, frequently resulting in permanent loss of function or tissue that requires complex surgical intervention.
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These injuries typically occur when you interact with vehicle attachments, industrial transport equipment, or heavy containers that shift unexpectedly. A common scenario involves you placing your hand or finger in a pinch point while adjusting a trailer hitch, clearing a gate, or servicing a battery compartment. When these objects move without warning, the force is often sufficient to cause immediate crushing or traumatic amputation.
| Injury Type | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amputations, avulsions, enucleations | 386 |
| 2 | Fractures | 43 |
| 3 | Nonfatal 'crushing' injuries | 19 |
| 4 | Traumatic injuries or exposures— unspecified | 11 |
| 5 | Cuts, lacerations, punctures without injury to internal structures | 9 |
| 6 | Severe wounds or internal injuries and other injuries | 8 |
| 7 | Bruises, contusions | 2 |
| 8 | Multiple severe wounds and internal injuries | 2 |
Where injuries happen most
Manufacturing accounts for 40% of all reported incidents, largely due to the high volume of heavy machinery and repetitive assembly tasks. Construction follows as the second most common environment, where the frequent use of industrial vehicles and transport attachments creates constant exposure to potential pinch points and heavy equipment hazards.
Real cases like yours
You may be injured while performing routine maintenance or simple tasks like hitching trailers, closing heavy gates, or adjusting machine components. These accounts reveal a pattern where equipment dislodges or shifts during manual handling, trapping your fingers in the process. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you evaluate your specific incident.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | FL | Construction | "On July 28, 2025, an employee was connecting a trailer to the hitch on a truck when the trailer tongue slipped. The employee's left little fingertip was crushed between the trailer tongue and the ball hitch. The employee sustained an amputation." | |
| 2025 | MO | Manufacturing | "An employee was assisting water treatment plant personnel with changing a flange when their finger got caught between the two pieces. The employee sustained a finger amputation." | |
| 2025 | LA | Real Estate | "An employee was closing the store for the night. While closing the gate to the parking area, the gate dislodged from the tracks. The employee proceeded to lift the gate back onto the tracks and caught their right ring finger between the gate and the tracks, resulting in amputation of the fingertip." | |
| 2025 | IL | Real Estate | "An employee had just serviced a battery and was reinstalling it in a forklift using a battery extractor. The employee was trying to pull the battery out of the battery compartment when the extractor moved, causing the battery to shift on the rollers. The employee's right hand was crushed between the top of the battery and the battery compartment." | |
| 2025 | OH | Utilities | "The injured employee was assisting with hitching a trailer to a truck. The employee was working to engage the lunette ring on the trailer with the pintle hook on the truck. A mini-excavator began driving onto the rear of the trailer. The added weight caused the rear of the trailer to lower and the front to rise, creating a pinch point between the trailer and the truck. The employee s left thumb was caught in the latch mechanism of the pintle hook. The thumb tip was partially amputated and required surgery." | |
| 2025 | KS | Manufacturing | "An employee had utilized a forklift to move a metal recycling bin into position to empty the bin. The employee exited the forklift to empty the chips manually. The employee pushed the lever on the bin to dump the chips and their finger got pinched between the bin and the forklift. The employee's fingertip was partially amputated without loss of bone." | |
| 2025 | TX | Manufacturing | "Two employees were removing a wooden pallet from a stack of pallets. One employee's left little finger was pinched between two pallets, causing a fingertip amputation without bone loss." | |
| 2025 | TX | Health Care | "An employee was on the roof of the facility working on a kitchen exhaust fan hood to identify the source of a vibration. He manually moved the propeller and shaft to check for play in the bearings. His left hand slipped and his little finger became caught between the motor pulley and belt. The employee's weight shifted onto the propeller and caused the pulley to rotate, resulting in partial amputation of the distal phalanx of his little finger." | |
| 2025 | IL | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was reversing a transport truck out of a parking space when the side mirror of the truck contacted another tractor and it folded inward. The employee went to fold the mirror back out and their left ring finger slipped into a recessed area of the adjusting mechanism, causing the mirror base to amputate his left ring finger." | |
| 2025 | PA | Manufacturing | "An employee was dumping a hopper of scrap lids into a dumpster. The hopper rolled forward and then back. The employee's little finger became caught between the hopper and the support frame of the hopper. The employee's finger was partially amputated." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.