Cherokee Brick and Tile Company

On January 1, 2025, an employee was operating a capstan to move kiln cars along tracks. The rope of the capstan became twisted and the employee went to manually untangle it. As the rope tightened, his left ring finger was caught, resulting in partial amputation of the fingertip.

An employee was rotating bricks on a kiln car so an unloading head could pick them up and place them on a conveyor belt for packaging. During this process, the unloading head descended onto the employee's legs, causing fractures to both legs.

An employee fell off a kiln car to the ground, about 38 inches below. The employee suffered a hip injury that required surgery.

An employee was using a capstan and rope. The rope got caught, and the employee attempted to untangle it. The employee's hand was caught between the rope and the capstan spool while wearing a glove. His fingertip was degloved.

An employee was operating a forklift and unloading a truck. After the truck was unloaded, the employee got off the forklift and proceeded to adjust the dock plate with a hook tool. The dock plate slipped and the employee went to adjust the plate with their hand when their left middle finger got caught. Their finger was amputated above the first joint.

An employee was rotating a carbide granulator blade when his finger was caught between the blade and a stationary part of the machine. The employee's right middle finger was partially amputated and they suffered an avulsion to the right ring fingertip.

An employee was using a CNC metal lathe machine in manual mode to check that the thread blocking tool made contact with the jaws. As the employee was manually spinning the spindle, his index fingertip was crushed between the spindle's jaws and the grooving insert, resulting in a fingertip amputation.

During a material handling operation, an employee's fingertip was caught under an air conditioning unit as the unit was lowered onto a cart. The employee's fingertip was amputated.

An employee was removing a bolt from a tractor hub when their right index finger was caught between the hub and the frame. The employee's fingertip was crushed and the employee was hospitalized.

An employee was operating a slab line in a plant that produces 16" x 9" x 3" concrete slabs that weigh approximately 25-30 pounds. The employee went to adjust the chain and sprocket for the doubler that stacks the slabs two high, when their right middle finger was caught in the machine. The employee sustained a partial transphalangeal amputation of the finger.

An employee was packaging brick. A brick broke from the bundle and became lodged between the conveyor rollers. The employee was removing the brick when the bundle of brick shifted forward, catching his left index finger between the bundle and the conveyor roller and resulting in a partial amputation to the fingertip.

An employee was observing the operation of the stacker machine and climbed onto a platform to align bricks in the stacker. While the employee was on the platform, the machine cycled, striking and pinning him to the chain conveyor. The employee suffered abrasions on his arms and hairline fractures of his pelvis.

An employee was picking up broken bricks from the floor to throw into a hopper. A forklift reversed, and its counterweight struck the employee. The employee suffered a broken left foot, as well as injuries to the leg and ankle, and was hospitalized.

An employee was removing a belt from a motor on an extruder when his finger was pinched by the belt, resulting in an amputation to the first knuckle.

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.

A casting machine jammed. An employee's hand was caught in the machine, where a belt line caught and amputated the tip of his finger.

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 slipped on condensation on a walkway in a parking garage. She fell and suffered a closed fracture to the neck of the left femur.

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.