Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Besse Forest Group, 38 E. MESSENGER ST., RICE LAKE, WISCONSIN 54868
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was cleaning logs at a log deck when one of the logs went into the deck crooked. While the employee was straightening the log, the eye beam recognized another log and sent it to the log deck. The new log hit the employee's hand, which was then crushed between the two logs. As a result, the employee sustained a right pinky finger amputation.
AmputationFinger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c.Logging and wood processing machinery-specialized, unspecified
An employee was sharpening peeler blades when their shirt was caught in the grinding wheel. The employee sustained tendon damage and a crushed right hand.
An employee was preparing to cut lumber on a panel saw when the clamp engaged and caught the employee's left middle finger, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 321211)
An employee was using a water hose to clean debris out of the outfeed of a log conditioning vat. Water began entering the vat from the adjoining vat through a void in the separation wall at the infeed of the vats. As the employee was exiting the vat he had been working in using the access opening at the outfeed, hot water exiting the access opening entered the top of his protective hip wader. It pooled at the bottom of the wader and burned his left foot and ankle.
On August 31, 2025, an employee was pulling a belt around a pulley when their right ring finger was caught between the pulley and the belt for the underdraft fan. The finger was lacerated and the employee was hospitalized.
An employee was on a ladder, pruning a tree in the outside picnic area. The employee lost their balance and fell. The employee was hospitalized with a fracture to their lower left leg.
On May 8, 2025, an employee was dumping a trash hopper while operating a forklift. His left hand was caught in a pinch point on the bottom of the trash hopper, resulting in a partial amputation to the index fingertip.
An employee was cleaning an air station with a pressure washer when the water stream went through their boot and contacted their left foot, resulting in a 1.5 inch by 1 inch laceration to the top of the foot.
The injured employee was assisting five other employees with bracing a wall panel that was being stood up. Another employee slipped on frost on the floor surface. The employees went to evacuate the area in anticipation of the wall panel falling over. The injured employee went to jump through a window opening within the wall panel and their lower half was crushed by the falling wall panel. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis.
An employee was using a vertical band saw to cut a thick piece of rubber material. While being cut, the material shifted, causing the employee s right hand to contact the moving blade. The employee's thumb was amputated below the knuckle. The employee was hospitalized, undergoing surgery.
A production sanitation employee was pre-rinsing an incline conveyor and noticed cheese stuck between the belt idler. The employee went to remove the cheese and their glove got caught and pulled their left forearm into the conveyor. The employee's arm was fractured. The machine was not locked out/tagged out at the time.
An employee was on a ladder, taking measurements for a new gutter installation. The ladder slipped out from under him and both he and the ladder fell to the ground. He was hospitalized with seven broken ribs and a broken clavicle.
An employee was unloading a truck for a delivery job. While moving boxes in the truck, the employee tripped over a pallet and fell out of the truck to the ground, resulting in four broken ribs.