Struck by falling object or equipment, n.e.c. · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Keystone Powdered Metal Company, 251 State Street, SAINT MARYS, PENNSYLVANIA 15857
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
Two employees were repairing a press. During the process, the two employees were repositioning the core rod assembly onto a pallet near the back of the press. The core rod assembly was in a vertical position, with the core rod component sitting on a pallet. One employee was operating a forklift to reposition the core rod assembly. The forklift operator communicated to the other employee that he was going to lay the core rod assembly down. At that point, the other employee had his right hand holding the core rod stop mechanism to help guide it down. At approximately three quarters of the way down, the core rod assembly slipped off of the pallet causing the core rod stop mechanism to move up, pinching the other employee's right index and middle fingers between the core stop mechanism and the core rod assembly and amputating the fingers at the first knuckle.
AmputationFinger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c.Machine and appliance parts, n.e.c.
More severe injuries at Keystone Powdered Metal Company
An employee and a coworker were adjusting the stops on the second plate of an 825-ton press. They needed to bring the second plate up for adjustment. The coworker was operating the controls to adjust the height of the second plate and proceeded to turn off the exhaust. The second plate raised while the employee working inside the press had his arm resting on the trip rod. When the second plate raised, it pinned the employee's right forearm between the trip rod and main ejection nut, causing a compound fracture.
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 332117)
An employee was running a sizing press. He was changing totes and needed to verify the sizes on the new tote of parts. While he was removing a part, the machine, operating in inch mode, crushed his left index fingertip between the pin, punch, and die. The employee sustained an amputation to left index finger. The machine was unguarded at the time of the incident.
An employee was removing a mold (weighing over 50 pounds) from a press machine to take the mold to another location. When he put the mold down, it dropped onto his finger and amputated his fingertip at the knuckle.
At 9:20 a.m. on Saturday August 17, 2024, an employee was running a sizing press machine when his right hand was caught in the press. The employee sustained an amputation of his ring finger at the knuckle and injuries to his index, middle, and little fingers that required stitches.
An employee was working on a sizing press. They were putting a part into the sizing press when the machine cycled. The employee sustained an amputation to their right index finger.
An employee was cleaning the tooling in a mechanical power press when the ram drifted down and caught the employee's right middle finger. Their fingertip was amputated.
An employee was walking into the motor control center (MCC) room when his right ring finger was caught in the hinge of a doorway. He sustained an open phalanx fracture, which resulted in a partial amputation above the first knuckle.
An employee was changing the spacing on a telehandler's forks. A fork slipped, and the employee's left index finger was caught between it and the mast. The fingertip was medically amputated at the first knuckle.
An employee was pulling down a broken skid with a forklift. When the employee backed up the forklift to get the forks out of the skid he pulled down, he contacted the forks of another parked forklift, fracturing both of his legs. He was hospitalized.
An employee was carrying cups back to the kitchen when her foot got caught on a cart and she fell face-first. During the fall, a piece of glass from a cup cut the inside of her mouth, severing an artery. She also sustained a laceration on her lower lip. The employee was hospitalized.