How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 5,070 severe cases involving you being caught between running equipment and other objects over the last decade. Amputations, avulsions, and enucleations account for 77% of these incidents, representing the most frequent and life-altering nature of injury reported.
These events are particularly dangerous because they frequently result in permanent loss of function. Finger injuries make up 86% of all reported cases, often occurring when safety guards are absent or when you are performing maintenance on active machinery.
Common injuries
Injuries typically occur when you interact with moving parts that lack proper physical barriers. Metal materials, cranes, and industrial vehicles like forklifts are the most common sources of these crushing incidents. Whether you are steadying a load, clearing a jam in a threading machine, or working near an active gantry crane, the mechanism of injury involves being pinned between a moving component and a stationary surface.
| Injury Type | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amputations, avulsions, enucleations | 3,896 |
| 2 | Fractures | 512 |
| 3 | Traumatic injuries or exposures— unspecified | 381 |
| 4 | Cuts, lacerations, punctures without injury to internal structures | 128 |
| 5 | Severe wounds or internal injuries and other injuries | 49 |
| 6 | Injuries to internal organs and major blood vessels | 28 |
| 7 | Bruises, contusions | 18 |
| 8 | Intracranial Injuries | 8 |
Where injuries happen most
Manufacturing accounts for 42% of all severe caught-in incidents, reflecting the high density of automated equipment and heavy machinery in these facilities. Construction follows as a high-risk environment, where the movement of heavy cranes and material handling equipment creates constant, high-stakes exposure for you on the ground.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these incidents include you assisting operators with heavy loads, performing maintenance on active systems, or clearing machine jams without proper lockout procedures. These reports show that even temporary employees or those working in support roles are frequently placed in the path of moving machinery. 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 | OH | Manufacturing | "A temporary employee was helping a forklift operator by holding metal sheets to steady them as they were placed on a rail for feeding to a stamp machine. The operator lowered the forks with the blanks (weighting approximately 750 pounds). The temporary employee's right index finger was caught between the metal and the feeding rail. The finger was crushed and partially amputated through the bone." | |
| 2025 | LA | Construction | "An employee was performing maintenance work on two gantry cranes located on an elevated trestle rail system. He was performing his work from the basket of a scissor lift that was positioned between the cranes. One of the cranes moved southward, pinning the basket and the employee against the other crane. The employee suffered three broken ribs on his left side and a lacerated kidney, resulting in hospitalization." | |
| 2025 | CO | Professional Services | "An employee was assisting a forklift operator with dumping trash into a trash compactor when the forklift crushed his right-hand fingers against a guardrail. The employee's little finger was partially amputated." | |
| 2025 | NJ | Utilities | "An employee was using a pipe threading machine to thread a 2-inch diameter gas pipe during the rebuilding of a gas meter. The pipe was in a vise mounted on the back of the crew truck. A few pieces of metal chips or shavings caused the threading machine to jam. The employee started to back the pipe up, but it jammed in that direction as well. While reaching to pull the handle back up into place to try and start again, the machine rotated about an inch and pinched his middle fingertip against the edge of the truck s back step. The employee's fingertip was partially amputated without loss of bone." | |
| 2025 | FL | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was placing a support block onto a truck bed to provide support for a unit of material. A forklift that was lowering a unit of lumber onto the truck bed crushed the employee's little finger, resulting in the amputation of most of the distal phalanx of the finger." | |
| 2025 | IL | Manufacturing | "An employee was working with a pallet bagger, trimming excess corrugate off a tray. The load was raised on a lift table. The scrap being trimmed activated the lift table's photo eye, causing the table to lower. Its frame pinched the steel toe of the employee's left boot between a bracket and the concrete. The employee suffered fractures in the left foot and was hospitalized." | |
| 2025 | MS | Manufacturing | "An employee was ascending in an aerial lift. He was pinned between the lift's control panel and the hull of a ship, suffering injuries to the liver and spleen." | |
| 2025 | TX | Utilities | "An employee was ascending the wind tower when their right arm was caught between the lift and the ladder. The employee sustained a right elbow injury and was hospitalized. " | |
| 2025 | TX | Construction | "An employee was emptying bulk bags/sacks of lime into a lime pit. A sack fell into the lime pit. The employee was directing an excavator to pick it up when the excavator struck the employee, fracturing their left ankle against a concrete barrier." | |
| 2025 | OH | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was operating a battery extractor for a powered industrial truck and was grabbing the battery when the mass from the extractor pushed back. His right middle fingertip was pinched between the battery and the extractor resulting in amputation at the first knuckle." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.
Frequently asked questions
If you suffer amputations or severe crushing injuries, you are generally entitled to Workers' Compensation benefits, which cover medical expenses and a portion of lost wages. Because these injuries often result in permanent impairment, you may also be eligible for disability benefits. An attorney can help you ensure your claim accurately reflects the long-term impact of your injury.
In most cases, Workers' Compensation is the exclusive remedy for your workplace injuries, meaning you cannot sue your employer directly for negligence. However, if a third party like a machine manufacturer or a maintenance contractor was responsible for a safety failure, you might have a separate personal injury claim. An attorney can help you investigate the incident to determine if third-party liability exists.
OSHA requires employers to install machine guarding on all equipment that poses a risk of entanglement or crushing. They must also implement strict lockout-tagout procedures to ensure machines are completely DE-energized during maintenance or jam clearing. If your employer failed to provide these protections, it may strengthen your case for Workers' Compensation benefits. An attorney can help you.
Recovery times vary significantly depending on the severity of the crush, the number of bones fractured, and whether an amputation occurred. Many workers require multiple surgeries, physical therapy, and long-term rehabilitation to regain any use of the affected body part. An attorney can help you document these medical needs to ensure your benefits cover the full scope of your recovery.