Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Fractures
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at TEKNI-PLEX, INC., 252 Hosea Rd., LAWRENCEVILLE, GEORGIA 30046
on — Fractures, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was observing a machine that was not advancing a plastic sheet correctly and jamming as a result. The employee was checking the tension of the drive belt by depressing the belt with his fingers when the machine unexpectedly advanced the sheet, causing the drive belt to move. When the drive belt moved, the employee's left index finger was caught between the belt and pulley. The employee's left index finger broke at the knuckle near the hand (proximal phalanx) and was lacerated in the same location, damaging the top tendon.
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 326140)
An employee was performing a maintenance task on a shape mold machine. The equipment had a clog preventing it from pumping material into the next stage. The employee's left hand was inside the hopper's butterfly valve when it unexpectedly turned. The employee's index and middle fingertips were partially amputated.
An employee was stacking used cardboard onto a pallet in the shipping and receiving area when he tripped over the scale by the loading dock door. The employee fell to the concrete floor and was hospitalized with a fractured left hip that required surgery.
On May 14, 2025, an employee was manually adjusting a plastic sheet entering the thermoforming oven when their right hand was pulled into the pin chain and idler wheel. The employee sustained the amputation of their middle finger.
At 6:30 p.m. on April 23, 2025, an employee was using a CNC panel saw when his fingers were pinned in by the pressure beam used to hold the board he was cutting. The sawblade, coming from beneath, amputated about 1/4 inch of his right little fingertip.
An employee was diagnosing an issue with a bagger that had jammed. The employee was cleaning out a piece of supporting equipment (a scrap barrel) when the blower motor contacted his right middle fingertip and fingernail, resulting in an amputation. The blower motor was not guarded at the time.
An employee was helping to lift the grating from a floor draining system when the grating slipped and landed on his hand, resulting in the amputation of his right middle finger at the first joint.
During a workshop meeting in a hotel, an employee heard a drilling noise, so he walked outside to see what it was. An explosion occurred (possible gas line) and his face, ear, and hair were burned. He also fell and sustained a pelvic fracture.
An employee was using a tool to remove a rag from a roll on the tube mill. The roll pulled the tool and the employee's right hand into the roll, resulting in a partial amputation of the little finger and a fracture to the index finger.