Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at RDO Equipment Co., 27518 Cascade Road, HOT SPRINGS, SOUTH DAKOTA 57747
on — Amputations, affecting the hand(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
An employee was servicing a trailer when the trailer rolled backwards. His hand was caught and partially amputated between the trailer and a truck. He was hospitalized.
On April 11, 2025, an employee was helping remove the rear axle of a wheel loader using a dolly. As the axle was being pushed out, it rolled off the dolly and landed on the employee's left little finger. The finger was amputated.
An employee was installing a post-less wing assembly (for snow removal) onto a motor grader. While aligning holes to mount the assembly, his right middle finger was caught in a pin hole when the blade came loose, resulting in partial amputation of the finger.
An employee was using a prybar to realign drill rods in a rod basket. The basket tipped and the rods dropped out, crushing the employee's right forearm.
An employee was accessing a leaking valve on the underside of a planter. The employee had to bend/contort their body in order to get in position to block up the valve. While putting the valve back together, the employee experienced abdominal pain and nausea. The employee sustained a hernia.
An employee was lifting a hydraulic cylinder into place. The pry bar being used slipped and caused the cylinder to pinch his left little finger resulting in a partial amputation. The employee required hospitalization and surgery.
An employee was operating a forklift and unloading a truck. After the truck was unloaded, the employee got off the forklift and proceeded to adjust the dock plate with a hook tool. The dock plate slipped and the employee went to adjust the plate with their hand when their left middle finger got caught. Their finger was amputated above the first joint.
An employee was rotating a carbide granulator blade when his finger was caught between the blade and a stationary part of the machine. The employee's right middle finger was partially amputated and they suffered an avulsion to the right ring fingertip.
An employee was using a CNC metal lathe machine in manual mode to check that the thread blocking tool made contact with the jaws. As the employee was manually spinning the spindle, his index fingertip was crushed between the spindle's jaws and the grooving insert, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
During a material handling operation, an employee's fingertip was caught under an air conditioning unit as the unit was lowered onto a cart. The employee's fingertip was amputated.
An employee was removing a bolt from a tractor hub when their right index finger was caught between the hub and the frame. The employee's fingertip was crushed and the employee was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 811310)
An employee was operating an ironworker (steel punching/shearing) machine. A piece of the tooling broke off and struck the employee's neck; a fragment was lodged in his neck. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was climbing a ladder to inspect a vent in a restaurant dining area. The ladder slid out on the floor and the employee fell approximately 12 feet onto the ladder and the floor. He was hospitalized with a dislocated shoulder and a back injury.
An employee was operating a lift truck when it struck a stationary lift truck. His left thumb was pinched between the two lift trucks, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was disassembling a pressurized unit using a driver drill. When the unit was disassembled, it caused a kickback from the tube head, causing the drill to strike the employee's left forearm. They sustained a diaphyseal fracture to their left radius and ulna, which required surgery.
After repairing a piece of industrial equipment, an employee had brake-cleaning liquid on his gloves. A lighter ignited the liquid, and the employee's hands were severely burned.
An employee was moving a tensile strength test device with a dolly. The device fell from the dolly onto the employee's right leg, causing a compound fracture.
An employee was walking past a crossover conveyor when a ramp came down and hit them in the back. The employee sustained a broken back vertebra, as well as a concussion, and was hospitalized.
An employee was using a hook tool to pull a pallet onto the lift gate of a tractor trailer. The hook detached from the underside of the pallet, causing the employee to fall backward off the lift gate. The employee landed on the concrete parking lot about 5 feet below, suffering fractures to the skull and two thoracic vertebrae.
An employee was walking on a truss table when he lost his balance and fell approximately 3 feet to the floor. The employee sustained a dislocated and fractured left ankle.