How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 44 severe cases involving harvesting and threshing machinery over the last decade. Amputations account for 41 percent of these incidents, representing the most frequent injury type reported.
These injuries often involve your fingers and hands, leaving you with permanent physical limitations. The severity of these events frequently requires extensive surgical intervention and long-term rehabilitation.
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Check My BenefitsHow these injuries happen
You are most likely to be injured when caught or entangled in running powered equipment during normal operation, which accounts for 50 percent of all reported cases. These accidents happen when machinery is active during harvesting or threshing. Other common scenarios include being struck by equipment that is unexpectedly activated during maintenance or cleaning, or being crushed between moving parts and stationary objects.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caught, entangled in running powered equipment— normal operation | 21 |
| 2 | Struck by running powered equipment— unspecified | 5 |
| 3 | Other fall to lower level | 4 |
| 4 | Pedestrian struck by vehicle in nonroadway area | 3 |
| 5 | Struck by running powered equipment— during maintenance, cleaning, testing | 2 |
| 6 | Struck by rolling powered vehicle or machinery | 2 |
| 7 | Direct exposure to electricity | 1 |
| 8 | Compressed between running equipment and other object(s) | 1 |
Where injuries happen most
Agriculture accounts for 52 percent of all reported incidents, as the daily use of heavy harvesting equipment creates constant exposure to high-torque moving parts. Manufacturing follows as the second most common industry, where you face similar risks of entanglement and mechanical failure when operating balers and processing machinery.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these reports involve you performing routine adjustments, cleaning belt lines, or clearing jams while machinery is still powered or improperly locked out. These incidents frequently occur when safety guards are missing or when equipment activates unexpectedly during maintenance. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you determine if employer negligence played a role.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | FL | Arts & Entertainment | "An employee was working with a machine that collects grass clippings when their left hand was caught in the grass collecting hopper, resulting in lacerations to the hand and fingers." | |
| 2025 | PA | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was working on a bale accumulator attached to a tractor. While he was making adjustments, the accumulator activated. The bar of the accumulator struck him and dragged him to the side, and his right leg was run over. He suffered a broken femur." | |
| 2024 | MO | Manufacturing | "An employee burned two of their fingers on a glue heater bar in the baler." | |
| 2024 | KS | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was scooping corn into a combine in a corn field. The head of the combine caught the employee's left leg, fracturing the leg below the knee." | |
| 2024 | WA | Agriculture | "An employee was cleaning out the belt line on a corn husker machine underneath the gears when their right arm was caught in the gears, resulting in an amputation above the elbow." | |
| 2024 | TX | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was working on a potato piler. The employee's left hand came into contact with a live electrical line, and the employee suffered a third-degree burn." | |
| 2023 | ME | Agriculture | "An employee was attempting to move a rock from the rear tires of a potato harvester truck when the vehicle rolled over the employee's hand. The employee suffered a thumb amputation and a dislocated knee." | |
| 2023 | ID | Manufacturing | "An employee was using a sickle to clean vines and leaves from a conveyor. The sickle was caught by the machine and the tool struck the employee s hand, pushing it toward a sharp edge on the structure. Two fingers on his right hand were partially amputated." | |
| 2023 | WI | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was installing a fan on a potato harvester when their left middle finger was caught in the fan, amputating the fingertip." | |
| 2023 | WI | Manufacturing | "An employee was standing on a combine touching up paint before shipment when he fell and landed on his feet on the concrete floor. He sustained a left foot/leg fracture." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.