How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 194 severe cases involving entanglement with objects like ropes, ties, and chains over the last decade. These incidents frequently result in life-altering injuries, with amputations accounting for 71% of all reported cases.
The high frequency of finger injuries highlights the extreme danger posed by moving parts and tensioned lines. These events often lead to long-term disability, requiring extensive medical intervention and rehabilitation for you.
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Free Benefits ReviewCommon injuries
Entanglement injuries typically occur when your clothing, glove, or limb is snagged by a moving object. Ropes, ties, and chains are the primary sources of these incidents, often pulling you into a pinch point or sheave. These accidents happen when tensioned lines suddenly shift, or when you are performing maintenance on machinery that has not been properly DE-energized.
| Injury Type | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amputations, avulsions, enucleations | 137 |
| 2 | Fractures | 40 |
| 3 | Traumatic injuries or exposures— unspecified | 5 |
| 4 | Cuts, lacerations, punctures without injury to internal structures | 3 |
| 5 | Other or multiple types of burns | 2 |
| 6 | Severe wounds or internal injuries and other injuries | 1 |
| 7 | Dislocations | 1 |
| 8 | Soreness, swelling, inflammation | 1 |
Where injuries happen most
Manufacturing accounts for 26% of all entanglement cases, largely due to the constant interaction between you and high-speed machinery. Construction follows closely at 23%, where the use of heavy-duty cables, winches, and tensioned rebar creates frequent opportunities for accidental snagging and crushing injuries.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these reports involve you performing routine tasks like guiding cables, opening heavy doors, or clearing jams while equipment is under tension. Often, a glove or loose clothing is the initial point of contact, leading to rapid and severe injury before you can react. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you evaluate your claim and ensure you are being paid fairly for your recovery.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | FL | Construction | "Three employees were pulling tension cable (similar to rebar) through the walls of a condo using a motor system. Two employees were needed to hold the cable while the third employee drilled the mounting locations. When the third employee activated the drill, the cables twisted. They caught the right index finger of one of the other two employees, amputating his fingertip." | |
| 2025 | IL | Other Services | "An employee was in an elevator pit working on the hoisting cables and compensator sheave. He moved the cables back onto the sheave groves. One of the cables spun, twisted out of the grove, grabbed his glove, and pulled his hand into the sheave. The tip of his right thumb was caught under a cable and was amputated approximately at the knuckle just below the nail." | |
| 2024 | NE | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was opening a roll-up door when his glove was caught in the door's rope, resulting in a partial amputation to his right index fingertip." | |
| 2024 | FL | Agriculture | "An employee was lowering an above-head gate with chains while moving a cow into a lane. Their fingers got tangled in the chain as the gate dropped, resulting in a lacerated thumb and crushed index and middle fingers." | |
| 2024 | IL | Utilities | "A crew was removing old distribution poles. As they were removing the bottom section of a pole post, a winch line became tangled with slack. Two of the employees climbed on top of the crew's truck to fix the issue. The load then pulled the winch line tight around the finger of one of the employees, causing the amputation of their fingertip." | |
| 2024 | CO | Construction | "An employee attempted to open an engine compartment door on a drill rig to start the master cylinder before transporting the rig via a lowboy trailer. In order to access the compartment door he had to stand on the bottom track. As he pulled the latch, he lost his balance and stepped backward. His right hand fingers were caught in the handle, resulting in fractures of his index and ring fingers and a partial amputation of the middle fingertip." | |
| 2024 | GA | Manufacturing | "An employee was applying tape to the carpet and roller on the A-frame roller when they stepped under a roller and were caught in the roll and found wrapped up inside. The employee sustained a fractured leg. " | |
| 2024 | GA | Administrative Services | "An employee was using a pulley system to pull over a tree. He was pulling on a rope that had a snatch block attached when the leverage gave way. His left glove got caught in the pulley and caused his fingers to get caught. The pulley amputated his left ring and little fingers to the first knuckle." | |
| 2024 | TX | Construction | "On July 8, 2024, an employee was helping place rebar during a rigging process. His hand was caught in a rebar cage and he fell. His right hand was then trapped and injured, becoming swollen." | |
| 2024 | TX | Information | "An employee was maneuvering a telecommunications cable across a road. A truck, driving toward him, hit the line. This caused it to tighten around his left thumb and amputated it. He was hospitalized." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.