Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Ultra-Poly Corporation, Bida Complex, BERWICK, PENNSYLVANIA 18603
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
At about 3:45 p.m. on July 12, 2018, an employee was replacing seals on a plastic extrusion machine. As the employee was installing a pin to connect the screen change plate to the hydraulic cylinder, the cylinder actuated causing the shaft to move outwards and crush his fingers against the extruder. One finger was amputated.
An employee was dislodging a piece of foam board from between the production line cage and the conveyor belt. Once the piece was unstuck, it fell into the production line, struck the rotor, and then shot back up. His thumb was then wedged between the plastic and the conveyor, resulting in a partial medical amputation.
An employee was working on an extruder when his glove became caught in the machine. The extruder then pulled his hand in and amputated a fingertip. The machine was not locked out at the time.
An employee was working in the electric panel of a rotor machine when an arc flash occurred. The employee received burns on both arms and the face. The electric power was not locked out at the time of the incident.
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 325991)
An employee was working to unclog a feeder that feeds raw material into an extruder to make plastic/polymer. The slide gate closed on his right hand, amputating three fingers between the first and second knuckles as well as cutting the thumb tip.
An employee was operating an overhead crane and using a hoist to lower a metal tipper bin. The tipper lowered onto their right hand, crushing their right thumb and resulting in a fingertip amputation.
An employee was unclogging a granulator when the rotor pulled his fingers in. His left index, middle, and ring fingers, as well as his right thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers were amputated. The employee was hospitalized. The machine was not guarded at the time.
On March 3, 2025, two employees were working on a blender. The injured employee was removing contaminated pellets from the blender. Another employee went to elevate a tilter that was feeding the blender when the blender auger activated and crushed the injured employee's left leg. The employee's leg was medically amputated 4" - 6" below the knee. The machine was guarded at the time.
An employee was performing maintenance on a pelletizer. When they rotated the drum, their left index finger became caught between the pelletizer blades and the bed, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
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.