How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 721 severe cases involving mining and tunneling machinery over the last decade. Amputations are the most frequent injury type, accounting for 47% of all reported incidents. These injuries often involve the loss of fingers or limbs when safety protocols fail during operation.
The severity of these accidents is reflected in the high rate of permanent damage to fingers. Because this machinery operates with immense force, you may suffer crushing injuries that require extensive medical intervention and long-term rehabilitation.
Caught in machinery? Check what benefits you may be owed.
Check My BenefitsHow these injuries happen
Injuries typically occur when you are caught or entangled in running powered equipment during normal operation. This accounts for 32% of all incidents, often happening when machinery is not properly locked out or tagged out before maintenance. You are also frequently compressed between moving parts and stationary objects, or struck by equipment that shifts unexpectedly during the boring or drilling process.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caught, entangled in running powered equipment— normal operation | 218 |
| 2 | Struck by running powered equipment— unspecified | 135 |
| 3 | Compressed between running equipment and other object(s) | 91 |
| 4 | Other fall to lower level | 88 |
| 5 | Struck by falling object | 28 |
| 6 | Struck by suspended or swinging object | 22 |
| 7 | Vehicle or machinery fire | 15 |
| 8 | Struck by propelled, falling, or suspended object— unspecified | 14 |
Where injuries happen most
Mining accounts for 75% of all reported incidents, as the nature of the work requires constant interaction with heavy, high-torque machinery. Construction follows at 16%, where you may operate boring machines in confined spaces like trenches. These environments leave little room for error, making strict adherence to machine guarding and lockout procedures essential for your safety.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these incidents include you sustaining severe injuries while performing adjustments or cleaning build-up inside machines that were not properly powered down. Many reports detail fingers or limbs being caught in crushing units or between moving rollers and trench boxes. 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 | OH | Construction | "An employee was making adjustments on the curtain of an apron machine when their right little finger became caught in the crushing unit of the machine. The employee sustained an amputation past the first knuckle. The machine was not locked out/tagged out at the time." | |
| 2025 | OH | Construction | "An employee was operating a road boring machine to install a water line underneath a highway when the machine moved and closed on his leg, pinching it against the trench and resulting in a broken leg." | |
| 2025 | OH | Construction | "An employee was working to remove the auger of a boring machine from a new water pipe. The boring machine bound up and rolled which pinched the employee between the roll cage bar of the boring machine and the trench box. The employee sustained pelvic and lower extremity fractures with internal injuries." | |
| 2024 | TX | Construction | "An employee was loading a directional drill unit onto a trailer when their finger was caught between the directional drill unit and the trailer. The employee's finger was partially amputated." | |
| 2024 | TX | Construction | "An employee was cleaning coal build-up inside pulverizers that were 10 feet 3 inches wide and contained three stationary rollers. After dislodging a piece of coal, the employee exited the pulverizers when the converging floor moved and their left leg was caught between one of the three rollers. The employee suffered injuries including a laceration to the lower left thigh and multiple fractures to the lower left leg. The motor to the converging floor was not in place at the time of the incident." | |
| 2024 | FL | Construction | "An employee was offloading a plate compactor from the company truck and felt pain in the abdominal area. The employee sustained a hernia." | |
| 2024 | WI | Construction | "On May 28, 2024, the injured employee climbed on a trailer to perform a repair on a horizontal directional drill. A second employee was offloading the drill and drove the drill so the ramp could be deployed. The injured employee's lower right leg became caught between the tracks of the drill and the trailer, resulting in fractures to the ankle and tibia." | |
| 2023 | OK | Mining | "An employee was standing on the rig floor next to a polishing unit. His hand was placed on the polishing unit when the pump was lowered, resulting in amputation of their right thumb, ring, and middle fingertips." | |
| 2023 | CO | Mining | "An employee was retrieving a lost drill pipe with a lifting bail when their left thumb got pinched between the table and handle of the lifting bail while trying to re-thread the pipe to lift it out. The employee suffered an amputation to the left thumb." | |
| 2023 | TX | Mining | "An employee was assisting with pipe on a drilling rig. The slips came down and landed on the employee's left foot fracturing four metatarsals." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.