How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 804 severe incidents involving vehicle and machine attachments over the last decade. Fractures account for 41% of these cases, reflecting the immense force involved when heavy equipment or trailers shift unexpectedly.
These injuries are often life-altering, with amputations occurring in 29% of reported cases. Fingers are the most frequently injured body part, as you often find yourself in the path of heavy metal components during coupling or maintenance.
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Check My BenefitsHow these injuries happen
Injuries from vehicle and machine attachments typically occur when you are caught in a pinch point during the hitching process. Other fall to lower level accounts for 43% of incidents, often when you are accessing or tarping loads on trailers. Many injuries also stem from equipment shifting unexpectedly, pinning you between a trailer and a truck or between the attachment mechanism and the load.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Other fall to lower level | 335 |
| 2 | Compressed between running equipment and other object(s) | 152 |
| 3 | Struck by falling object | 99 |
| 4 | Caught or wedged between objects— nonrunning | 41 |
| 5 | Struck by suspended or swinging object | 26 |
| 6 | Struck by rolling, sliding, or shifting objects—non-running | 25 |
| 7 | Struck by running powered equipment— unspecified | 18 |
| 8 | Fall on same level | 16 |
Where injuries happen most
Transportation and warehousing leads with 23% of all reported incidents. This volume is driven by the constant cycle of loading, unloading, and coupling trailers, where high-pressure environments often lead to shortcuts in safety procedures and improper equipment handling.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these reports involve you performing routine maintenance or connecting trailers when equipment slips, shifts, or drops without warning. These incidents frequently happen during the hitching process or while working underneath suspended loads, leading to severe crushing injuries. If your injury occurred while you were operating or assisting with trailer attachments, an attorney can help you review the specific circumstances of your case.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | FL | Construction | "On July 28, 2025, an employee was connecting a trailer to the hitch on a truck when the trailer tongue slipped. The employee's left little fingertip was crushed between the trailer tongue and the ball hitch. The employee sustained an amputation." | |
| 2025 | FL | Manufacturing | "On July 25, 2025, at 11:21 a.m., an employee was sitting underneath the forks of a forklift while performing maintenance on the forklift when the forks dropped onto them, resulting in a broken femur." | |
| 2025 | OH | Utilities | "The injured employee was assisting with hitching a trailer to a truck. The employee was working to engage the lunette ring on the trailer with the pintle hook on the truck. A mini-excavator began driving onto the rear of the trailer. The added weight caused the rear of the trailer to lower and the front to rise, creating a pinch point between the trailer and the truck. The employee s left thumb was caught in the latch mechanism of the pintle hook. The thumb tip was partially amputated and required surgery." | |
| 2025 | PA | Transportation & Warehousing | "On July 18, 2025, an employee was tarping a load on a flatbed trailer in the yard. He fell approximately 13 feet off the loaded trailer and landed face-down on a gravel lot. The employee sustained facial cuts, abrasions, scrapes, fractures to their face, as well as several fractured ribs. He was hospitalized." | |
| 2025 | TX | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was assisting a customer with attaching a trailer to their vehicle using a trailer mover. The trailer slipped from the trailer mover. As a result, the trailer mover struck the employee s left knee. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured left kneecap that required surgery." | |
| 2025 | PA | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was changing brake pads underneath a trailer unit. They used a hydraulic floor jack under an axle to secure the trailer in an elevated position. The trailer rolled and collapsed while the employee's head was underneath the air bag plate, resulting in a concussion, a laceration to the left side of their face, and a bruise on the right side of their face. The employee was hospitalized." | |
| 2025 | LA | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was loading/unloading product from a trailer at a customer location when he fell 10-12 feet from the top of the trailer to the concrete ground below. The employee sustained a fractured left ankle." | |
| 2025 | TX | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was manually connecting a dolly to a trailer while on a slope. The dolly began rolling toward the trailer, catching their right hand between the dolly and the trailer pintle hook. The employee sustained an amputation of the right little fingertip to the first knuckle." | |
| 2025 | SD | Construction | "An employee was using an overhead crane to move a trench compaction pinwheel in the maintenance shop. The employee was stabilizing the pinwheel with their left hand as it was moving. Their left little finger was pinched between the pinwheel and a trench box, resulting in amputation of the fingertip and fingernail." | |
| 2025 | IL | Construction | "An employee was rigging prefabricated residential home deck panels on a trailer. He stepped backward and fell 9 feet off the trailer to the asphalt road. The employee sustained a blood clot on the brain and fractured ribs. " |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.