How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 258 severe cases involving logging and wood processing machinery over the past decade. The most common injury types are amputations, which account for 64% of all reported incidents, followed by fractures.
These injuries are severe because they involve high-torque equipment that leaves little room for error. Your fingers are the most frequently affected body parts, often caught in moving parts during routine operation or maintenance.
How these injuries happen
Most injuries occur when you are caught or entangled in running powered equipment during normal operation, which accounts for 58% of all cases. These incidents often happen when you are clearing a jam, loading wood, or performing routine adjustments while the machine is still active. In other instances, you are struck by equipment that has malfunctioned or shifted unexpectedly, leading to crushing injuries or severe lacerations.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caught, entangled in running powered equipment— normal operation | 146 |
| 2 | Struck by running powered equipment— unspecified | 18 |
| 3 | Struck by running powered equipment— during maintenance, cleaning, testing | 15 |
| 4 | Struck by rolling, sliding, or shifting objects—non-running | 14 |
| 5 | Compressed between running equipment and other object(s) | 13 |
| 6 | Other fall to lower level | 10 |
| 7 | Struck by suspended or swinging object | 7 |
| 8 | Caught or wedged between objects— nonrunning | 4 |
Where injuries happen most
Manufacturing accounts for 60% of all reported logging and wood processing machinery injuries. This rate is driven by the constant use of heavy saws, conveyors, and splitters in sawmill environments where you must frequently interact with moving parts to clear jams or feed materials.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these incidents involve you reaching into active machinery to clear wood jams or perform adjustments without proper lockout procedures. These accidents frequently result in permanent finger loss or severe crushing injuries when safety guards are bypassed or fail to function. 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 played a role.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | CO | Agriculture | "Two employees were operating a wood splitter. An employee was loading wood into the splitter when the tip of his right thumb was crushed between the rear end of the wood and the back metal plate of the wood splitter. The employee's thumb tip was amputated." | |
| 2025 | GA | Manufacturing | "On June 12, 2025, an employee was removing a board from a cross-up on a landing table. While they were shifting the board onto a log loader, their right little finger got caught between the board and the lug. The employee suffered a fractured finger and a laceration of the knuckle that resulted in a fingertip amputation to the distal knuckle." | |
| 2025 | TX | Manufacturing | "An employee was unloading a log truck with the knuckle boom loader when bolts broke on the turntable to the log loader, causing it to fall off the carriage. The log loader struck the employee and he was hospitalized with fractured ribs and a dislocated shoulder." | |
| 2025 | MS | Manufacturing | "An employee was clearing a jam on the vibrating conveyor in the sawmill when his left little finger got caught between a slab of wood with a sharp edge and the conveyor, resulting in amputation at the middle knuckle." | |
| 2025 | LA | Agriculture | "An employee was installing a feed roller. The employee's left index finger was caught between the roller and a choker. The employee suffered an avulsion to the finger, and the fingertip was partially amputated at the hospital." | |
| 2025 | AL | Manufacturing | "On March 20, 2025, an employee was conducting preventative maintenance and visual inspection of the chains in the bark hog waste chain area. They became caught between the bark incline chain and the sprocket while clearing a stick, resulting in amputation of their right forearm at the elbow. The machine was energized at the time." | |
| 2025 | MS | Manufacturing | "An employee was loading logs onto a feeder chain into the chipper when his left hand was crushed between the throat of the chipper and the core. Two fingers were injured and surgically amputated." | |
| 2025 | GA | Retail Trade | "A contract employee was working to free stuck wood from a pan on a firewood processing machine. The pan flipped up and struck the employee on the left side of their face, resulting in fractured facial bones." | |
| 2025 | NY | Manufacturing | "Two employees were operating a debarker machine. Bark had built up on the two limit switches, which caused the carriage to stop moving. One of the employees went down into the machine to wipe the limit switches off. His left hand was caught in the machine, and the chain and sprocket pulled in his arm. His left forearm was amputated." | |
| 2025 | ID | Manufacturing | "An employee was inside the saw box performing cleaning activities when the system was re-energized. The rollers activated, pulling the employee toward the saw blades. The employee was hospitalized with severe injuries including multiple lacerations, deep tissue damage, and fractures." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.
Frequently asked questions
Seek immediate medical attention and ensure your employer files an official report with OSHA as required by 29 CFR 1904.39. Document the exact state of the machine at the time of your injury, including any missing guards or safety features. An attorney can help you gather this evidence to support your Workers' Compensation claim.
Employers are strictly required to maintain machine guarding under OSHA standards to prevent contact with dangerous moving parts. If a guard was missing, broken, or improperly adjusted, your employer may be held accountable for your injury. An attorney can help you investigate whether your employer violated these safety requirements.
Workers' Compensation is designed to cover medical expenses and lost wages for injuries occurring on the job, regardless of fault. Because machinery accidents often lead to permanent impairment, you may be entitled to additional benefits for disability. An attorney can help you ensure your claim accurately reflects the long-term impact of your injury.
Maintenance records, equipment inspection logs, and witness statements can reveal if a machine was known to be defective before your injury. If your employer failed to perform required maintenance or ignored reports of equipment malfunctions, this evidence is critical to your case. An attorney can help you obtain these documents to strengthen your claim.