Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Dakota Turkey Growers, L.L.C., 40253 US Highway 14, HURON, SOUTH DAKOTA 57350
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was performing maintenance on a breast skinner with another employee and had opened a magnetic interlock door to halt the machine's operation. The other employee held a wrench close to the interlock and the machine engaged, pulling the maintenance employee's right hand between a sprocket and chain. The employee suffered a pinky finger amputation and partial ring finger amputation. The machine was energized at the time of the incident.
An employee was climbing down from a tanker-type truck. The employee slipped from the tanker's fixed ladder and fell approximately 8 feet to the ground, hitting concrete and suffering fractures to the skull, a shoulder blade, and a back vertebra.
An electric pallet jack operator was pulling a load of boxes when he was struck by a stand-up forklift and sustained a crushing injury to the right tibia.
An employee was pulling a wheeled rack in a holding cooler when one of his left-hand fingers was caught and crushed between the rack he was pulling and another rack, later resulting in a surgical amputation.
An employee was repairing the hydraulic line of a lift truck when the employee's elbow became stuck between the forklift mast, causing a compression fracture and broken blood vessels.
An employee was attempting to release an equipment die lock with a crow bar. When the die lock released, the crow bar slammed upwards pinching the employee's right pinky finger against the equipment guard rail resulting in a fingertip amputation.
Two employees were repairing the hydraulic engagement pins on a rented front-end wheel loader. The machine controls were activated to move the attachment pins and an employee's finger was caught between the pins and the bushings. Their right index finger was partially amputated.
An employee was cleaning the conveyor on a piece of equipment when they slipped and their right hand was pulled into the chain sprocket. The employee's fifth fingertip was amputated.
An employee was throwing blankets onto a blanket folding and stacking machine. A blanket got stuck in the machine and she attempted to remove it when the machine contacted her right little finger, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 311615)
An employee was unloading a forklift from a trailer to the ground. The employee was climbing down the ladder of the trailer when their foot slipped through one of the rungs, causing them to fall backward onto the forklift forks. The employee was hospitalized for fractured ribs.
An employee was troubleshooting a thigh deboner on a poultry processing line. As he worked to dislodge a thigh bone caught in the blade mechanism, the machine amputated the first and second digits on his left hand. He was hospitalized.
On September 25, 2025, an employee was exiting a yard truck. They slipped and fell approximately 3 feet from the top tread of the steps to the concrete below. The employee sustained a fractured left hip.
An employee was operating a stand-up forklift, picking product for an order. The forklift struck a metal rack and the employee's left arm was caught between the forklift and the rack. He was hospitalized with a fracture to the neck of his radius and an open fracture to the olecranon (elbow).
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.