How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 1,318 severe incidents involving you being caught in running powered equipment over the last two years. Amputations account for 76 percent of all reported injuries in this category.
These events are dangerous because they often involve high-torque machinery. Fingers are the most affected body part, appearing in 79 percent of all recorded incidents, often leading to permanent loss of function or complex reconstructive surgeries.
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Entanglement typically occurs when safety guards are bypassed, removed, or improperly maintained during routine tasks. Conveyors are the most frequent source of these injuries, accounting for 16 percent of incidents as you attempt to clear jams or perform maintenance while belts remain active. Other common scenarios involve food processing and packaging machinery where high-speed rollers or automated components engage unexpectedly while you are in close proximity.
| Injury Type | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amputations, avulsions, enucleations | 1,002 |
| 2 | Fractures | 125 |
| 3 | Cuts, lacerations, punctures without injury to internal structures | 54 |
| 4 | Nonfatal 'crushing' injuries | 43 |
| 5 | Severe wounds or internal injuries and other injuries | 33 |
| 6 | Traumatic injuries or exposures— unspecified | 22 |
| 7 | Multiple severe wounds and internal injuries | 11 |
| 8 | Injuries to internal organs and major blood vessels | 4 |
Where injuries happen most
Manufacturing accounts for 71 percent of all severe entanglement cases, largely due to the high volume of stationary equipment and frequent interaction required for maintenance. You may also face elevated risks in wholesale trade and transportation, particularly when clearing jams on automated sorting conveyors or performing pre-trip inspections on heavy equipment with exposed moving parts.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these reports include you performing routine maintenance, clearing jams, or changing dies when equipment is unexpectedly activated. Many incidents occur because control functions were engaged while you were directly interacting with the machine's moving parts. 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 safety protocols were ignored.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | WI | Manufacturing | "An employee was performing routine maintenance on an air valve when their right ring finger became caught in the valve. The employee sustained an amputation to the fingertip. " | |
| 2025 | TX | Manufacturing | "An employee was in training to learn how to change steel dies on a culvert machine. The employee was on top of the machine when the handheld control was activated, engaging the machine's auto-run function. The employee's feet were dragged into the roller dies, resulting in a left ankle fracture, a laceration between the ankle and knee, and amputation of the the big toe and second toe on the right foot." | |
| 2025 | KS | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was clearing a mail jam on a conveyor belt when her arm got trapped between the rollers. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured arm that required surgery." | |
| 2025 | TX | Other Services | "A driver was doing a pre-trip inspection on a tractor when their fingers got caught in a fan belt and the tops of two fingers were amputated." | |
| 2025 | TX | Manufacturing | "An employee was replacing a pop-up roller between the drop plate table and the far stacker conveyor after clearing a jam. The pop-up roller became hung up on the frame of the roller flight conveyor. The employee s hand then became caught between the pop-up roller and the belts on the drop table. The employee sustained an avulsion to their right hand excluding the fingers. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery." | |
| 2025 | PA | Mining | "An employee was changing out the heads on mechanically-operated tongs when the tongs shifted into a lower gear, causing the employee's left hand to be crushed. The employee sustained amputations to their left index, middle, and ring fingers." | |
| 2025 | TX | Construction | "An employee was working on the ingot loader of a aluminum processing machine and noticed a pin was not installed. The employee reached to retrieve the pin and the machine activated for a functions test. The machine closed on the employee's hand, resulting in a hand injury requiring hospitalization." | |
| 2025 | GA | Retail Trade | "An employee was fixing the gate on a cardboard baler when his left middle finger got caught in the gate. The employee's finger was partially amputated and he required surgery." | |
| 2025 | WI | Manufacturing | "On July 29, 2025, an employee was reinstalling a chute/guard that had been removed for cleaning. His hand slipped into a rotating gump feeder and the tip of his left thumb was partially amputated. " | |
| 2025 | TX | Professional Services | "An employee was troubleshooting and rodding out a piece of process piping equipment when their left index finger was caught between the tool handle and threaded flange. The employee's fingertip was partially amputated." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.