Struck by falling object or equipment, n.e.c. · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Veritas Steel, LLC., 211 Comfort Rd, PALATKA, FLORIDA 32177
on — Amputations, affecting the fingertip(s).
Final narrative
An employee was disassembling a roughly 55-pound gusset plate because it was assembled incorrectly. As he removed the last pin, the plate started to fall off of the table. He tried to catch the plate, and his left-hand ring finger was caught between the plate and a section of another metal piece. His left ring fingertip was amputated without bone loss.
On May 12, 2023, at 7:33 AM, an employee was hooking a crane hook to an I-beam when his ring finger was caught between the hook and the flange of the beam, resulting in amputation.
On November 16, 2021, an employee was working with a band saw. He was correcting a piece mark when the rag used to wipe it off became caught in the band saw and the employee's fingertip was amputated.
On August 18, 2017, an employee was leveling a yard and dumping rock from a dump truck bed. While attempting to close the tailgate, the employee discovered a rock was lodged in the tailgate. The employee lifted the tailgate, which released the rock. The tailgate then came down and pinned the employee's right index finger against the dump truck bed. The employee was hospitalized and the finger was amputated to the first knuckle.
An employee was building a bridge girder when his left middle finger was caught between the flange and a splice plate, amputating his left middle fingertip without bone loss.
An employee was moving a piece of an I-beam for welding when it rolled off the cribbing. The employee went to catch it when it fell and crushed the employee's finger, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was helping to disassemble large reels used to store steel wire when a 264-pound flange from the reel fell over onto the employee's left leg. The employee sustained multiple fractures to their leg and ligament injuries to the lower leg.
The injured employee was putting away materials on the warehouse floor as a co-worker was pushing a pallet onto a nearby shelf. The pallet knocked another pallet forward, causing it to fall onto the injured employee's shoulders. The employee suffered fractures in their right and left knees and ankles.
Employees were moving a single man lift into a building and reclining the lift to position it to fit through the door. The lift shifted and fell, causing the employee to sustain fractures to the left tibia and fibula. The employee was hospitalized and had surgery.
An employee was moving a light tower so it could be hitched to a truck. He grabbed the tongue of the trailer hitch on the light tower to slide it to the left. The tongue jack fell off, causing the light tower tongue to drop on the employee's right hand. The employee's middle fingertip was amputated.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 332312)
On October 21, 2025, an employee was operating a saw when a pneumatic clamp caught their right middle finger. The employee suffered a partial amputation to the finger.
An employee completed an end cut on a metal shim and started transferring the metal shim from the saw conveyor to two saw horses in the area. The employee set one end of the shim (7 feet long x 8 inches wide, weighing 218 pounds) on one of the saw horses, then slid the other end onto the other saw horse and the shim fell from the first saw horse. The employee's left index fingertip was pinched between the saw horse and the shim, resulting in a skin avulsion. The fingertip was amputated later.
An employee was using a crane to move a 44-foot, 3,343-pound I-beam. As the beam was moving west, it straightened out (north to south), beginning to swing south toward the northwest corner of a building. The crane then sent the beam southward, directly toward the corner of the building. The beam caught the tips of the employee's left index, middle, and ring fingers against the building. The last joints of the middle and ring fingers were amputated, and the last joint of the index finger was partially crushed.
An employee was moving steel beams with an overhead crane when the bundle struck a bollard and became unstable. As the employee reached to stop the material from shifting, his thumb was pinched in-between the beams, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was rigging a steel joist to be lifted by a crane. The joist fell and pinned the employee against the concrete ground. The employee sustained fractures to multiple ribs, his right arm, right tibia, and an open fracture to his right ankle, as well as a dislocated right hip.
An employee was helping a coworker transport a tall palm tree with a mini skid steer. The employee was severely shocked by a high-voltage electrical wire above the ground.
An employee was retrieving a Christmas tree from a shelf using a ladder. He missed a step and fell to the concrete floor. He sustained injury to his head and wrist.
An employee was operating an agricultural tractor during sugarcane harvesting. The employee sustained a lumbar sprain due to vibration or motion from the tractor.
An employee was moving a 3-ton condensing unit, strapped down on a dolly, out of a garage. The strap broke, causing the employee to fall backward onto the brick pavered driveway. The employee suffered injury to a spinal ligament in the neck.