How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 1,000 severe cases involving packaging, bottling, and wrapping machinery over the last decade. These incidents frequently result in amputations, which account for 81% of all reported injuries in this category.
The severity of these injuries is driven by the nature of the equipment, which often involves high-speed moving parts and pinch points. Fingers are the most commonly affected body part, appearing in 86% of all reported incidents.
How these injuries happen
Injuries from packaging machinery typically occur when you attempt to clear jams or perform routine adjustments while equipment is still powered. The most frequent event, accounting for 75% of cases, is becoming caught or entangled in running powered equipment during normal operation. These accidents often happen when safety guards are bypassed, improperly adjusted, or fail to stop the machine when you reach into a danger zone.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caught, entangled in running powered equipment— normal operation | 739 |
| 2 | Struck by running powered equipment— during maintenance, cleaning, testing | 110 |
| 3 | Struck by running powered equipment— unspecified | 64 |
| 4 | Compressed between running equipment and other object(s) | 21 |
| 5 | Contact with hot objects or substances | 15 |
| 6 | Struck by rolling, sliding, or shifting objects—non-running | 12 |
| 7 | Struck by falling object | 7 |
| 8 | Struck against stationary object | 5 |
Where injuries happen most
Manufacturing accounts for 81% of all reported packaging machinery injuries, reflecting the high density of automated lines in this sector. Facilities in wholesale trade and administrative services also report significant numbers of injuries, often due to the operation of high-speed shrink wrapping and bottling equipment that requires frequent manual intervention to maintain production flow.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these incidents include you reaching into machinery to clear a jam, align a product, or retrieve a fallen item while the equipment is still active. Many reports describe fingers being pulled into gears, chains, or heating elements, even when guards are present. 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 safety failures contributed to your injury.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | TX | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was removing a jam in a straw packaging machine. The machine pulled in her hand, and the blades lacerated her left middle finger and amputated the fingertip. The machine was guarded at the time of the incident." | |
| 2025 | TX | Manufacturing | "An employee was filling a blister feed on a machine and aligning a plate when her left middle finger got caught between the machine and the plate. The machine started and the blister feed came up and crushed her finger, resulting in hospitalization and a surgical fingertip amputation." | |
| 2025 | AR | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was retrieving a can from an ammunition can sealer. The machine severely lacerated his right thumb, which required hospitalization and surgery." | |
| 2025 | TX | Manufacturing | "A temporary employee was operating a shrink wrap heating machine. When the machine cycled, the heating element came into contact with the employee's left hand, resulting in third-degree burns. The employee was hospitalized." | |
| 2025 | KS | Manufacturing | "An employee was operating a donut wrapper machine. There was a small gap between the wrapper framework, fixed factory guard, and motor housing. His fingers went into the gap and came into contact with the chain and gear assembly. The employee's fingertip was partially amputated without bone loss." | |
| 2025 | NY | Manufacturing | "On July 3, 2025, an employee was in the enclosure on the bagging machine to troubleshoot the machine. Their left index finger got caught in a pulley near the sealer and was amputated." | |
| 2025 | TX | Manufacturing | "An employee was troubleshooting a piece of packaging equipment when his finger was broken." | |
| 2025 | IL | Manufacturing | "On June 30, 2025, an employee was working in a bagger machine. They went to pull plastic from the exit of the machine and sustained partial amputations to their left middle and ring fingers. " | |
| 2025 | KS | Manufacturing | "An employee was working to clear plastic film from a packaging machine when she came in contact with a chain, resulting in an amputation to her middle fingertip." | |
| 2025 | NJ | Administrative Services | "A temporary employee was operating a bagging machine when they dropped a bag. They went to grab the bag and the machine partially amputated a finger." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.
Frequently asked questions
If a machine guard failed, your employer may have violated OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.212, which requires adequate protection against nip points and rotating parts. You should document the condition of the machine and any safety bypasses immediately. An attorney can help you determine if this failure constitutes a basis for a more comprehensive Workers' Compensation claim.
Yes, amputations resulting from workplace machinery accidents are generally covered under Workers' Compensation, which provides for medical expenses and disability benefits. Because these injuries often require long-term rehabilitation and result in permanent impairment, it is vital to ensure your claim accurately reflects the full extent of your loss. An attorney can help you navigate the complexities of permanent partial disability ratings.
In most cases, Workers' Compensation is the exclusive remedy for workplace injuries, meaning you cannot sue your employer directly for negligence. However, if a third-party manufacturer designed a defective machine or a maintenance contractor failed to service safety systems correctly, you may have a separate personal injury claim. An attorney can help you evaluate whether third-party liability exists in your specific case.
Employers are required to follow strict lockout-tagout procedures under 29 CFR 1910.147 to ensure machinery is completely DE-energized before maintenance or jam clearing. If you were injured while performing these tasks and the machine was not properly locked out, your employer may have failed to meet federal safety requirements. An attorney can help you investigate whether these protocols were ignored or improperly implemented.