How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 690 severe cases involving nonroadway vehicle collisions over the last decade. Fractures are the most common outcome, accounting for 53% of these incidents, often requiring extensive surgery and long-term rehabilitation.
These events frequently target your lower extremities. The high frequency of fractures and amputations underscores the extreme force involved when industrial vehicles collide with you or your equipment.
Common injuries
Most of these incidents involve industrial vehicles and material hauling equipment, which account for 81% of all reported sources. Collisions often occur in high-traffic intersections within warehouses or on construction sites when operators have obstructed views, travel in reverse without adequate signaling, or fail to maintain safe distances from you and other machinery.
| Injury Type | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fractures | 356 |
| 2 | Traumatic injuries or exposures— unspecified | 121 |
| 3 | Cuts, lacerations, punctures without injury to internal structures | 59 |
| 4 | Amputations, avulsions, enucleations | 55 |
| 5 | Severe wounds or internal injuries and other injuries | 21 |
| 6 | Injuries to internal organs and major blood vessels | 15 |
| 7 | Bruises, contusions | 10 |
| 8 | Intracranial Injuries | 7 |
Where injuries happen most
Transportation and warehousing leads all sectors with 32% of these severe incidents. The high volume of forklift and pallet jack activity in these environments creates constant collision risks, particularly when your employer fails to enforce strict traffic management plans or provide adequate separation between pedestrian walkways and heavy equipment zones.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these reports include forklifts operating in reverse without spotters, pallet jacks colliding at blind intersections, and heavy machinery striking you on foot during routine repositioning. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you review the specifics of your incident to determine if employer negligence played a role.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | NJ | Retail Trade | "An employee was driving a forklift backward out of a freezer. Another forklift was entering the freezer and struck the employee's left ankle, resulting in a fracture. The employee had surgery on the ankle." | |
| 2025 | OH | Wholesale Trade | "A forklift and a pallet jack collided in an intersection. The pallet jack operator was hospitalized with a foot fracture that required surgery." | |
| 2025 | TX | Construction | "On July 3, 2025, at approximately 9:45 PM, an employee was operating a utility task vehicle (UTV) on a project road when the UTV struck the rear of a reversing bulldozer. The employee struck their head and face on the UTV dashboard and collapsed onto a UTV passenger. The employee was hospitalized with a forehead laceration, a nasal fracture, and central cord syndrome. The other employee on the UTV sustained a bruised left forearm and was not hospitalized." | |
| 2025 | GA | Construction | "On June 26, 2025, an employee was standing on a scissor lift at a height of about 6 feet. He was conducting quality checks, light cleaning, and touching up paint on a piping assembly framework that was secured to a drop-deck trailer attached to a tractor. When the tractor trailer drove forward to reposition, it contacted the scissor lift at the deck frame and pulled it forward, causing it to tip over. The employee fell with the lift to the floor. He sustained fractures to his right forearm and wrist, and a burst fracture of his L1 vertebra. He was hospitalized and required surgery." | |
| 2025 | CT | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was moving loads with a forklift when their forklift struck another forklift. One of the forklifts was traveling in reverse. The employee sustained a fractured ankle." | |
| 2025 | TX | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was driving a baggage-tugging vehicle when it collided with another baggage-tugging vehicle, nearly head-on. The two vehicles came to rest parallel to each other, with the employee's leg caught between them. The employee suffered a broken femur that required hospitalization." | |
| 2025 | GA | Manufacturing | "On June 10, 2025, an employee was driving a forklift west when they were struck by another forklift driving south. The suffered a puncture wound on the right calf." | |
| 2025 | NJ | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was operating a stand-up reach truck. He was taking a small pallet of product through a dock area when another stand-up reach truck struck him. The steel forks punctured his lower right calf, also breaking a bone in the same area. He was hospitalized, requiring surgery." | |
| 2025 | PA | Manufacturing | "An employee was operating a forklift when it collided with another forklift at an intersection. The employee suffered a broken lower right leg from a rack of battery plates on the forks of the other truck." | |
| 2025 | NJ | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was parking a reach truck in the charging area when his left calf was pinched against another reach truck. The employee was hospitalized with a laceration to the left calf." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.
Frequently asked questions
Seek immediate medical attention to document the full extent of your injuries, as fractures often require surgical intervention and long-term physical therapy. Once your condition is stable, report the incident to your employer in writing to initiate the Workers' Compensation process. An attorney can help you ensure your medical records accurately reflect the cause of your injury and protect your rights to benefits.
Employers are generally required to provide a safe work environment, which includes training operators, maintaining equipment, and establishing clear traffic patterns to prevent collisions. If your employer failed to enforce safety protocols or allowed dangerous operating conditions, you may have grounds for a claim beyond standard Workers' Compensation. An attorney can help you evaluate whether safety violations contributed to your accident.
Workers' Compensation typically covers medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, and a portion of lost wages while you recover from your injuries. If your injury results in permanent impairment, you may also be entitled to disability benefits. An attorney can help you review your claim to verify that you are receiving the full range of benefits you are entitled to under the law.
OSHA requires employers to report severe injuries like fractures and amputations, which creates an official record of the safety failure that caused your accident. This documentation can serve as critical evidence when proving that your employer failed to maintain a safe workplace. An attorney can help you leverage these reports to strengthen your case for benefits.