Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at The Sherwin-Williams Company, 13129 Harland Drive, COVINGTON, GEORGIA 30014
on — Amputations, affecting the fingertip(s).
Final narrative
An employee was about to remove debris within a repaired rotary valve when the valve amputated his left middle fingertip. The valve's lockout/tagout had been removed and it had been energized to ensure that it worked following the repair.
AmputationFingertip(s)Valves, nozzles
More severe injuries at The Sherwin-Williams Company
An employee was operating a reach truck. They were driving down an aisle in a warehouse when the equipment malfunctioned and lost throttle control. The reach truck struck a stationary rack. The employee sustained fractures to both lower extremities, which required surgery.
An employee was delivering 5-gallon buckets of block filler and set a 60-pound bucket down on his little finger, crushing it. The employee sustained the amputation of the fingertip.
An employee hit a store window. The window shattered and lacerated the employee's right bicep, nicking their brachial artery. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
At about 12:40 p.m. on January 4, 2023, an employee was operating a forklift in a dock area. As the employee backed the forklift out of a trailer, the trailer began to pull away and the forklift fell. The employee suffered broken ribs and a broken left collarbone and was hospitalized.
A driver was unloading freight from the trailer while it was raining. As they brought freight onto the liftgate, the pallet jack began to slide on the wet surface and caused the driver to fall from the liftgate to the ground. They sustained a fractured right arm and a bruise to the right leg.
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 325510)
An employee was operating a shear to cut metal parts when two of their fingers contacted the blade. This resulted in amputation of the left middle and index fingertips.
On October 5, 2025, an employee was pulling a pressure washer hose when it it disconnected from the cooker. The employee was struck by jets of high-pressure water, resulting in lacerations to their left thigh requiring surgery. The employee was hospitalized.
A maintenance employee was climbing a fixed roof access ladder to perform work on an HVAC unit when they fell from the ladder, over the second-floor railing, and onto the stairs below. The total distance of the fall was over 20 feet. The employee suffered multiple fractures that required hospitalization.
At about 8:00 p.m. on September 8, 2025, an employee was cleaning an extruder. While he was brushing built-up powder, his hand brushed the extruder screws. The screws caught his right index finger and amputated about a quarter inch of it.
At about 10:30 a.m. on August 7, 2025, a warehouse technician working for Tnemec Company, Inc., began sweating profusely a half-hour into their shift. The employee was using a forklift to move staged pallets of paint to a shrink-wrapper, shrink-wrap the pallets, and then load the pallets onto a truck using a forklift. The employee became ill about two hours later and was hospitalized for heat-related illness.
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.