Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Opelika-Auburn News, 2901 Society Hill Rd, OPELIKA, ALABAMA 36804
on — Amputations, affecting the fingertip(s).
Final narrative
An employee was removing a paper jam (newspapers) from a stacker when his left hand was caught in the belt and pinched in the pulley wheel, resulting in a left middle fingertip amputation. The machine was running 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 322122)
An employee was picking up cardboard debris from the floor below the cardboard recycle conveyor. One of the cardboard bales weighing approximately 1200 pounds fell from the conveyor and struck the employee, resulting in bilateral rib fractures, fractured vertebrae, and a laceration.
An employee was on a work platform located on the second level of a printing press when they slipped and fell backward onto the working surface. The employee sustained a back injury.
An employee was cutting cores with a saw. While she was attempting to retrieve a marking crayon, the saw cut her right hand and broke her right index finger. She was hospitalized.
An employee was traveling down the maintenance aisle of a warehouse on a single-pallet front rider jack. The jack malfunctioned, causing the brakes to apply; the employee fell forward onto the concrete warehouse floor. The employee suffered an injury to the left leg and was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
An employee was operating a metal roller machine to roll a small piece of metal. The employee's right index finger became caught between the metal and the machine, and the fingertip was amputated.
An employee was directing a truck driver to a dump site when the truck's peanut trailer slipped off the kingpin. As the trailer fell, a ladder attached to it lacerated the employee's ear. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was unloading a forklift from a trailer to the ground. The employee was climbing down the ladder of the trailer when their foot slipped through one of the rungs, causing them to fall backward onto the forklift forks. The employee was hospitalized for fractured ribs.