How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 21 severe cases involving friction and abrasion injuries since 2015. Blisters are the most common nature of injury, accounting for 25% of all reported incidents.
These injuries often lead to severe infections and hospitalization, particularly when your feet or fingers are involved. Constant pressure from improper safety gear or equipment can cause long-term damage to your surface tissues.
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Free Benefits ReviewCommon injuries
These injuries occur when you experience constant contact with abrasive surfaces or restrictive clothing. Apparel and clothing are the leading sources of these injuries, causing 32% of reported cases. Whether it is a boot rubbing against your calf or a rope catching your hand under tension, the mechanism is almost always a failure to provide proper protective equipment or safe work procedures.
| Injury Type | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blisters | 5 |
| 2 | Traumatic injuries or exposures— unspecified | 4 |
| 3 | Abrasions | 4 |
| 4 | Cuts, lacerations, punctures without injury to internal structures | 3 |
| 5 | Other or multiple types of burns | 2 |
| 6 | Amputations, avulsions, enucleations | 1 |
| 7 | Surface and flesh wounds— unspecified | 1 |
Where injuries happen most
Manufacturing accounts for 38% of these severe cases, as you frequently handle raw materials and operate tools that create friction hazards. Construction follows closely, where the use of ropes, ties, and chains and heavy materials often leads to lacerations and abrasions when equipment is under tension.
Real cases like yours
Many reported incidents involve you developing infections from simple abrasions that were ignored or improperly treated. Other cases show how high-tension equipment like ropes and cables can cause sudden, severe lacerations to your hands and fingers. 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | NY | Manufacturing | "An employee developed an infection caused by constant friction on his leg from his work boot. The employee was hospitalized. " | |
| 2024 | FL | Construction | "A crew of three employees was pulling electric cable through 1,200 feet of HDPE conduit. The rope pulling the cable was attached to the bucket of an excavator. The excavator was pulling it back in stages, between which the rope would be untied so the truck could move forward and the rope could be re-tied. When one of the employees untied the rope, the tension in it caused it to catch his right hand and lacerate his middle finger. He was hospitalized." | |
| 2023 | OH | Health Care | "An employee's new steel-toe boots rubbed on the skin of his calves, causing an abrasion on the left calf that became infected. The employee was hospitalized." | |
| 2022 | OH | Manufacturing | "An employee was cutting turkey heads with a kitchen knife while wearing gloves. The glove rubbed against the employee's right hand, resulting in a blister that required hospitalization." | |
| 2021 | PA | Construction | "An employee was chipping ceramic tile when a small particulate landed in his eye. He rubbed his eye and felt pain. The employee sustained an injury to his eye that required surgery." | |
| 2021 | WI | Manufacturing | "An employee was hospitalized due to an infection of the left foot caused by tight boots." | |
| 2021 | MA | Construction | "An employee was on his hands and knees laying tile in a client's bathroom. The friction from the floor caused a blister on his left knee, which became infected, requiring hospitalization." | |
| 2020 | FL | Health Care | "An employee had been wearing a surgical mask for extended periods of time which caused a cut into the back of the left ear that resulted in a bacterial infection. The employee was hospitalized." | |
| 2020 | WI | Wholesale Trade | "An employee knelt on a pebble while stocking bottom shelves. His left knee became infected." | |
| 2019 | IL | Wholesale Trade | "On May 3, 2019, a forklift was moving pallets when the forks struck and broke a pipe. The injured employee went to examine the broken pipe when a blast of air struck the employee causing a surface burn to their right arm and hand." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.