How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 265 severe crush injury cases over the last eighteen months. These incidents disproportionately impact your hands and fingers, which account for 56 percent of all reported injuries, often resulting in life-altering physical limitations.
Crush injuries frequently lead to long-term functional impairment and chronic pain. The force involved in these accidents often causes extensive tissue damage that requires multiple surgeries and extended recovery periods, directly impacting your ability to return to your previous role. An attorney can help you navigate the complexities of your claim.
What causes Crush Injuries
Most crush injuries occur when safety protocols fail during routine operations or maintenance. Entanglement in running powered equipment is the leading cause at 17 percent, followed by accidents during maintenance or testing at 17 percent, and injuries caused by falling objects at 15 percent.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caught, entangled in running powered equipment— normal operation | 44 |
| 2 | Struck by running powered equipment— during maintenance, cleaning, testing | 43 |
| 3 | Struck by falling object | 39 |
| 4 | Nonroadway collision with object other than vehicle | 25 |
| 5 | Pedestrian struck by vehicle in nonroadway area | 20 |
| 6 | Caught or wedged between objects— nonrunning | 19 |
| 7 | Struck by suspended or swinging object | 12 |
| 8 | Struck by running powered equipment— unspecified | 9 |
Where injuries happen most
Manufacturing accounts for 41 percent of all severe crush incidents, driven by the constant use of heavy machinery and automated systems. Construction and wholesale trade also see high rates of injury, typically involving material handling equipment and industrial vehicles.
Real cases like yours
Recurring patterns in these incidents include equipment actuating unexpectedly during maintenance and failures in battery or conveyor handling procedures. If your injury occurred while operating machinery, performing troubleshooting, or working near heavy equipment, an attorney can help you review the specific safety failures that led to your accident.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | CT | Construction | "An employee was bending sheet metal on a brake press. The press actuated while he was adjusting a piece of sheet metal, resulting in a crushing injury to the left arm." | |
| 2025 | NJ | Accommodation & Food Services | "A chauffeur exited their vehicle. The vehicle (an SUV) ran over the chauffeur and crushed their pelvis resulting in hospitalization." | |
| 2025 | IL | Real Estate | "An employee had just serviced a battery and was reinstalling it in a forklift using a battery extractor. The employee was trying to pull the battery out of the battery compartment when the extractor moved, causing the battery to shift on the rollers. The employee's right hand was crushed between the top of the battery and the battery compartment." | |
| 2025 | FL | Manufacturing | "An employee was troubleshooting to determine why a pallet was not traveling along a continuous vertical conveyor. The conveyor's rollers caused a crushing/laceration injury to the employee's right hand that required surgery." | |
| 2025 | IL | Manufacturing | "A lab technician was operating a polishing machine. He went to replace pads within the machine when the camera inside the machine that performs scanning lowered and caught his right wrist against the polishing tank. The employee suffered crush injuries to his wrist that required hospitalization and surgery. " | |
| 2025 | TX | Manufacturing | "An employee was working to clear a blockage in a powder blending machine and contacted the ribbon as it was turning which caused crushing injuries to his right hand and fingers." | |
| 2025 | OH | Manufacturing | "The injured employee was standing on a form/bed where concrete is poured and was removing concrete from the form(s). Another employee indicated through hand signals to the injured employee that the chocks had not been removed from the strands. The employee jumped down from the bed to ground level. The bed then started moving toward him. He went to jump over the drive wheel to get out of the way of the bed, but his foot got caught in the drive wheel. The employee sustained a severe laceration and crush injuries to the foot that required surgery." | |
| 2025 | WI | Manufacturing | "An employee was making a second bend in a piece of metal using a press brake. The employee's right little finger was crushed between the second bend and the first." | |
| 2025 | TX | Professional Services | "An employee was operating a horizontal belt sanding machine that rotates a metal sanding belt. The employee switched hands while the belt transitioned from left to right. When the machine's speed was adjusted, the employee s left hand was pulled into the machine and crushed. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery." | |
| 2025 | MO | Construction | "An employee was moving an argon tank across the floor and slipped on bacon grease, falling backward. His right thumb was caught between the handle of the tank and the ground, crushing his right thumb. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.