Struck by falling part of powered vehicle still attached · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Veritas Steel LLC, 2800 Melby Street, EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN 54703
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
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.
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.
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 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.
An employee was fixing a mechanical casket lift in a vehicle when the lift came down on their left-hand fingers, resulting in amputation of two fingers.
An employee was helping to remove the clamp attachment paddles from a forklift so they could then repair a hydraulic leak. The clamp fell and pinned the employee's right ring finger against the mast. The employee's finger was partially amputated.
An employee was on a truck attempting to stow an aluminum extension ladder onto the truck's conveyor boom system. As the conveyor mast was lowered, the boom control area came down on top of the employee's left foot, resulting in two toe fractures.
An employee was standing on the elevated forks of a forklift to install the fork chain anchor nut. The employee slipped and as he went to catch himself, he accidentally engaged the up-down control for the forks. This caused the forks to fall onto his foot. The employee's right foot was crushed and all of his right toes were amputated.
An employee was working on a scissor lift when a portion of the unit came down and struck their head at the lift base. The employee sustained a head laceration and a skull fracture.
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.
The injured employee was assisting five other employees with bracing a wall panel that was being stood up. Another employee slipped on frost on the floor surface. The employees went to evacuate the area in anticipation of the wall panel falling over. The injured employee went to jump through a window opening within the wall panel and their lower half was crushed by the falling wall panel. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis.
An employee was using a vertical band saw to cut a thick piece of rubber material. While being cut, the material shifted, causing the employee s right hand to contact the moving blade. The employee's thumb was amputated below the knuckle. The employee was hospitalized, undergoing surgery.
A production sanitation employee was pre-rinsing an incline conveyor and noticed cheese stuck between the belt idler. The employee went to remove the cheese and their glove got caught and pulled their left forearm into the conveyor. The employee's arm was fractured. The machine was not locked out/tagged out at the time.
An employee was on a ladder, taking measurements for a new gutter installation. The ladder slipped out from under him and both he and the ladder fell to the ground. He was hospitalized with seven broken ribs and a broken clavicle.
An employee was unloading a truck for a delivery job. While moving boxes in the truck, the employee tripped over a pallet and fell out of the truck to the ground, resulting in four broken ribs.