Besse Forest Products, Inc.

An employee was standing on a bundled stick stack to cut metal banding when his foot slipped and he fell into a railing. The employee sustained a ruptured liver.

An employee was putting logs on the deck from his front-end loader when he noticed a problem. The employee went to clear the clean-out chute in the sawmill debarker area when the machine was activated. His right thumb became caught in the drive chain, resulting in an amputation to the tip.

An employee was using a pry bar to loosen a chipper wheel on a piece of machinery when wet saw dust caused the chipper wheel to lock up. When the employee loosened the wheel, his position and force caused him to fall backwards. His foot was under the frame of the machine at the time and because of his momentum and angle, he fractured his right femur.

An employee's right ring finger was partially amputated when it got pinched between a reel of veneer and the reel track.

An employee was tossing a damaged toilet into a compactor. The toilet bounced off the compactor and lacerated the employee's right wrist, cutting an artery and tendon.

An employee was operating a hydraulic jack to bend a frame when the jack came loose and struck the employee. They were hospitalized for a spleen injury.

A truck had been towed into the shop with a flat tire and a blown airbag. An employee checked the tire for damage and was airing the tire. The employee was installing the valve core when the bead slipped off the rim. Air escaped, and the aluminum wheel struck the employee's head and face. The employee became unresponsive and was bleeding.

On December 14, 2023, at 8:40 p.m., three employees were inspecting milling machines for startup. A few of the sleeves on the mill drum needed to be changed out. The injured employee was trying to input a sleeve on the mill drum using a hammer. The hammer hit the edge of the drum, which caused a metal piece to splinter off and strike the employee's cheek just below the left eye. The metal splinter embedded in the back of their eye socket, resulting in pain, swelling, and bleeding that required hospitalization.

An employee was pushing a line of carts into a vestibule when the door cable snapped and struck his right ankle. The employee suffered a fracture that required surgery and hospitalization.

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.