How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 602 severe cases involving heavy earth-moving machinery over the last decade. Fractures are the most frequent injury, accounting for 47% of all reported incidents, often requiring extensive surgery and long-term rehabilitation.
These incidents frequently result in life-altering trauma, with fingers being the most commonly affected body part in 18% of cases. The severity of these injuries often leads to permanent impairment, affecting your ability to return to your previous role.
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Check My BenefitsHow these injuries happen
Injuries involving heavy machinery typically occur when you are struck by rolling vehicles or caught between equipment and other objects. Pedestrians in nonroadway areas are at high risk, as are operators who may be thrown or crushed during equipment malfunctions. These accidents often stem from blind spots, failed communication, or mechanical failures like snapping tow hooks.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Struck by rolling powered vehicle or machinery | 171 |
| 2 | Pedestrian struck by vehicle in nonroadway area | 109 |
| 3 | Other fall to lower level | 66 |
| 4 | Nonroadway noncollision incident | 60 |
| 5 | Compressed between running equipment and other object(s) | 50 |
| 6 | Caught, entangled in running powered equipment— normal operation | 25 |
| 7 | Struck by running powered equipment— unspecified | 13 |
| 8 | Struck by running powered equipment— n.e.c. | 13 |
Where injuries happen most
Construction accounts for 68% of all reported heavy machinery incidents. The high volume of moving equipment, combined with complex site logistics and constant pedestrian-vehicle interaction, creates a high-risk environment where even minor lapses in safety protocols lead to severe outcomes.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these reports involve communication breakdowns between operators and ground crews, equipment malfunctions during towing, and you being struck while walking near reversing machinery. 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 employer negligence contributed to your injury.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | ME | Construction | "An excavator operator and the injured employee were exchanging a hand tool on a utility right of way. After the tool exchange the excavator moved forward and the tracks ran over the big toe of the injured employee's right foot. The toe was crushed, resulting in amputation of the tip." | |
| 2025 | CO | Construction | "At 5:46 PM, on July 26, 2025, an Evergreen Caissons bulldozer operator was towing a water truck on a sandy job site. The tow hook failed and the shackle and D-ring on the nylon tow rope snapped back and went through the back window of the dozer, and struck the operator. The employee sustained a gash under their right armpit. The employee was hospitalized." | |
| 2025 | WV | Manufacturing | "An employee was climbing down the ladder of a wheeled loader. He fell before reaching the last rung and landed on the ground on his left hip. The hip was broken and he was hospitalized, requiring surgery." | |
| 2025 | AR | Agriculture | "On July 18, 2025, at approximately 1:09 PM, an employee was moving a trailer-mounted de-limber. He set his ground saw on the de-limber trailer and then got off the loader and stood to the side of the ground saw. A grapple skidder was raising the trailer slightly so he could throw the chain under the trailer to secure the ground saw. He then turned around and the ground saw slid off the trailer and struck his back. The employee was hospitalized with four fractured vertebrae." | |
| 2025 | FL | Construction | "An employee was walking behind an excavator during roadside construction. The excavator reversed and ran over the employee's left foot, breaking it." | |
| 2025 | FL | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was closing the back trailer door of a truck when a loader backed into him, catching him between the trailer and the loader. The employee sustained a chest lesion, internal bleeding, loss of blood circulation to the wrists and hands, and fractures to six ribs, a clavicle, a scapula, an arm, and a wrist." | |
| 2025 | FL | Administrative Services | "An employee was servicing an air conditioning compressor for a wheel loader. The clutch for the compressor started spinning and cut the employee's fingers. The left ring fingertip was partially amputated." | |
| 2025 | TX | Administrative Services | "An employee left the guard shack to speak to a customer. A bulldozer ran over her right foot, resulting in three broken toes." | |
| 2025 | AR | Construction | "On June 20, 2025, an employee was in a trench box, observing while an S-fitting was being removed from a 48-inch pipe with an excavator. The pipe shifted and struck the employee in the head. The employee sustained head trauma to the left temple and was hospitalized." | |
| 2025 | WI | Other Services | "An employee was walking across a yard while performing contract work at a job site. The employee was run over by an end loader, resulting in facial injuries that required surgery and a laceration on their leg. The employee was hospitalized." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.