How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 1,231 severe cases involving machine and tool parts over the last decade. These incidents frequently result in amputations, which account for 47% of all reported injuries, and fractures, which make up 24% of the total.
Injuries from these components often involve your fingers, which are impacted in 51% of all cases. The severity of these accidents often leads to permanent impairment, requiring long-term medical care and significant time away from work.
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Check My BenefitsHow these injuries happen
Injuries involving machine and tool parts are most often caused by being struck by falling objects, which accounts for 43% of all reported incidents. You are also frequently compressed between running equipment and other objects, or struck by propelled parts during operation. These events typically occur when tools shift unexpectedly, guards fail to contain debris, or equipment is not properly secured during maintenance or assembly.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Struck by falling object | 512 |
| 2 | Compressed between running equipment and other object(s) | 246 |
| 3 | Struck by propelled object or substance | 201 |
| 4 | Struck by running powered equipment— unspecified | 45 |
| 5 | Caught, entangled in running powered equipment— normal operation | 39 |
| 6 | Struck by propelled, falling, or suspended object— unspecified | 33 |
| 7 | Struck by suspended or swinging object | 32 |
| 8 | Injured by object handled by person | 18 |
Where injuries happen most
Manufacturing accounts for 55% of all machine and tool part injuries, as the high volume of heavy equipment and repetitive assembly processes creates constant exposure. Construction and mining also report significant numbers of injuries, where the use of heavy-duty grinders, presses, and hoists requires strict adherence to safety protocols to prevent catastrophic contact with moving components.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these incidents include equipment shifting during assembly, tools falling from heights during maintenance, and you becoming trapped while clearing jams or changing dies in heavy presses. These reports highlight how quickly a routine task can turn into a life-altering injury when safety protocols are bypassed or equipment is improperly secured. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you review the specifics of your incident.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | AR | Manufacturing | "On July 30, 2025, an employee was assisting co-workers in using a hoist to position an injection molding tool onto a work table. As the tool was being lowered, the slide section shifted, trapping and amputating the employee's right thumb tip." | |
| 2025 | OK | Manufacturing | "An employee noticed a block was out of place under the weighted mold frame. The employee used another block to push the block out and replace it. When the block came out, the frame came down on his right ring and little fingers. The employee sustained a fracture and partial amputation to the ring fingertip." | |
| 2025 | CO | Construction | "An employee was using a 9-inch grinder to remove the coating from a concrete surface. The grinder blade broke and a fragment of the blade struck their right leg above the knee, resulting in a laceration and multiple fractures. The employee was hospitalized. " | |
| 2025 | CO | Manufacturing | "The injured employee was assembling a machine to start his work day with a co-worker. The auger they were inserting into the machine dropped on the injured employee's right foot resulting in fractures to his metatarsals/toes." | |
| 2025 | AL | Manufacturing | "On June 25, 2025, at 7.30 a.m., an employee was using a remote-controlled crane to change a die in a 2,600-ton press. They were releasing crane cables from the die when one cable did not release, causing the die to lift and pin the employee between the press and the die. The employee suffered a closed non-displaced fracture of the pelvis." | |
| 2025 | MO | Manufacturing | "An employee was using a grinding wheel on a bathroom floor. The wheel broke off around the outer edge, and the broken part of the wheel bounced back onto his wrist and lacerated it. He was hospitalized." | |
| 2025 | TX | Construction | "An employee was assisting in the loading of a 26-inch auger onto the back of a flatbed truck. The auger was being lowered by a winch when it crushed the little finger on his right hand." | |
| 2025 | WI | Manufacturing | "An employee was lifting a cope mold using a mold manipulator. While the mold was suspended in the air, he reached under it to retrieve the rollover pin. The mold slipped out of the manipulator and fell onto his right hand, causing a severe degloving of the right forearm and hand. He was hospitalized." | |
| 2025 | KS | Manufacturing | "On June 5, 2025, at approximately 6:45 AM, an employee was installing an auger tube onto a combine when it wouldn't slide into place due to a bind. After adjusting the hoist to remove the bind, the auger slid into place and struck their left thumb. The employee sustained a partial amputation of the thumb to the distal interphalangeal joint." | |
| 2025 | OH | Manufacturing | "On June 3, 2025, the injured employee was setting a mold with a co-worker when the mold was displaced and caught their right hand against the stop block. The employee sustained a fracture and partial amputation of their middle finger." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.