How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 23 severe injury incidents involving drums, pulleys, and sheaves. Amputations are the most frequent injury, accounting for 61% of all reported cases. These injuries often require immediate surgical intervention and extensive rehabilitation.
Fingers are affected in 73% of these cases. You may suffer crushing or entanglement injuries while interacting with moving machinery, which can significantly impact your manual dexterity and earning capacity.
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Check My BenefitsHow these injuries happen
Injuries involving drums and pulleys typically occur when you are caught or entangled in running equipment during normal operations, which accounts for 26% of reported incidents. These accidents often happen when you attempt to clear a jammed cable or guide a rope through a capstan while the machinery is under tension. When a winch or pulley system unexpectedly engages or slips, the force is sufficient to pull your hand into the mechanism, leading to severe crushing or amputation.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caught, entangled in running powered equipment— normal operation | 5 |
| 2 | Struck by propelled object or substance | 4 |
| 3 | Struck by falling object | 3 |
| 4 | Struck by propelled, falling, or suspended object— unspecified | 2 |
| 5 | Struck by running powered equipment— during maintenance, cleaning, testing | 2 |
| 6 | Entangled in non-running object | 2 |
| 7 | Struck by running powered equipment— irregular movement, kick back | 1 |
Where injuries happen most
Manufacturing and construction industries each account for 22% of these severe injuries. In these environments, the constant use of winches, cable spools, and drive wheels creates a high-risk landscape for entanglement. Your employer is required to maintain strict machine guarding and lockout-tagout procedures to prevent you from coming into contact with these hazardous moving parts.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these incidents involve you guiding cables or clearing obstructions while equipment remains under load or tension. Many reports describe situations where a winch line unexpectedly tightens or a chain hoist detaches, trapping your fingers between the cable and the drum. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you evaluate your legal options and ensure your rights are protected.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | FL | Information | "An employee was pulling inner duct from one handhole to another. The shackle on a winch cable contacted the cable sheave's roller block. The employee released tension on the winch cable and lifted the cable to guide the shackle over the lip of the handhole. As he re-engaged the winch, his left index fingertip became caught between components in the winch's retrieval wheel. The fingertip was amputated between the last knuckle and the nail." | |
| 2025 | PA | Construction | "An employee was working to remove an obstruction and free a winch cable that was caught. The cable was still under the load of the probe casing. As the employee pulled the cable free, the weight of the casing caused the winch line spool to tighten around their hand. Their index and little fingers were caught and cut by the cable including tendon damage. The employee was hospitalized." | |
| 2025 | WI | Manufacturing | "On June 6, 2025, at approximately 9:33 PM, a maintenance employee was placing the chain back on a drive wheel of a shackle line when the chain hoist/come along he was using detached from its anchorage point. His right little finger was crushed between the chain hoist/come along and the guard for the drive wheel. The employee sustained an open fracture and partial amputation to the finger." | |
| 2025 | NY | Utilities | "An employee was assisting with an operation that was pulling in an underground wire. The employee was guiding a rope through a capstan when their gloved right hand was pulled into the capstan for approximately 1/3 of a rotation. The employee's right index fingertip was crushed and surgically amputated to the first joint." | |
| 2025 | TX | Construction | "Two employees were lifting a radio antenna up the tower using a winch when the rope got bound up in the spool of the winch. They were repositioning the spool of rope when the winch began to take the rope more quickly and pulled the injured employee's left hand that was holding the rope into the winch. The employee's left middle and ring fingers were injured and the little finger was broken." | |
| 2025 | TX | Mining | "An employee was on the floor of a workover rig to install an electric submersible pump when rig blocks fell and struck them, resulting in seven broken ribs and a lacerated finger." | |
| 2025 | AL | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was disassembling crane rigging when their left hand became caught between a pin and block pulley. The employee sustained a partial amputation to their left little finger." | |
| 2025 | GA | Wholesale Trade | "On January 1, 2025, an employee was operating a capstan to move kiln cars along tracks. The rope of the capstan became twisted and the employee went to manually untangle it. As the rope tightened, his left ring finger was caught, resulting in partial amputation of the fingertip." | |
| 2024 | TX | Construction | "An employee was setting up a winch to adjust an internal cable/tendon when it jumped and the metal guide rod struck the employee on the right side of the cheek. The employee sustained a fractured jaw." | |
| 2024 | AR | Construction | "On November 19, 2024, at approximately 1:50 p.m., an employee was watching a line get pulled from concrete when they were struck by a pulley. The employee was hospitalized with fractures to their left hand, left wrist, the left side of their face, and spine, as well as internal bleeding. The employee required surgery." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.