Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at U.S. Gypsum Southern, Hwy 51A, SOUTHARD, OKLAHOMA 73770
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was manually clearing a clog in a centrifuge machine when his fingers were caught and crushed between the dryer mechanism and the centrifuge, ripping the skin and meat off and leaving the bone. As a result, his right middle and ring fingers had to be surgically amputated.
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 325520)
An employee was rolling up sheets of sealant using a rotating mandrel when her right hand was caught in the mandrel. Her right arm was pulled into the roll of material. The employee was hospitalized with three fractures to her right arm.
An employee worked a full shift and later started cramping up due to exposure to heat and high humidity. The employee was hospitalized with heat exhaustion.
At 2:05 p.m., the injured employee was shadowing another operator. They went into the aerosol gashouse as part of training. As they entered, the self-closing overhead door shut while the injured employee's right hand was still on the edge. The employee's little fingertip was caught and partially amputated between the door and the frame.
An employee fell from the top of a fixed ladder, passing through the ladder's access opening and landing on the floor about 6-7 feet below. He suffered nine broken ribs (four on the left side and five on the right), as well as a punctured lung. He was hospitalized.
On April 8, 2025, an employee was unjamming a conveyor belt. It reactivated, and his right little finger was caught between the belt and a conveyor roller. He suffered a partial amputation of the fingertip.
An employee was helping to move a 1,300-pound coil on a cart. The steel caster hit a crack in the concrete, the weld holding the caster onto the cart broke, and the coil and cart tipped over onto the employee. He was hospitalized with a laceration on his forehead and a pelvic fracture on his right side.
An employee was working in the food service warehouse when he experienced chest pain, difficulty breathing, and lost consciousness. The employee sustained carbon monoxide poisoning.
An employee was cutting a piece of metal rod with a metal cutting machine. His right middle finger became caught between the rod and the machine's table. The employee's fingertip was partially amputated.
An employee was working at her desk. She went to stand up and fell to the floor beside the desk. The employee sustained a hip displacement and required surgery.
An employee was processing wood boards at a chop saw when the saw malfunctioned and the blade cut her left hand and fingers. She was hospitalized and her little finger was surgically amputated.