Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Pilgrim's Pride Corporation, 1129 Old Middleton Rd, ELBERTON, GEORGIA 30635
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was troubleshooting and performing service and/or maintenance on equipment when an actuator valve engaged and caught the employee's finger. The left index finger was amputated. The equipment was not locked out/tagged out at the time.
On June 6, 2025, at approximately 9:33 PM, a maintenance employee was placing the chain back on a drive wheel of a shackle line when the chain hoist/come along he was using detached from its anchorage point. His right little finger was crushed between the chain hoist/come along and the guard for the drive wheel. The employee sustained an open fracture and partial amputation to the finger.
An employee was packaging chicken tenders using a vacuum packaging machine. As the employee went to make an adjustment to the package, a seal bar crushed and amputated her left index fingertip.
On August 3, 2023, an employee was walking around the back side of his parked pallet jack when he tripped and fell to the floor sustaining a fractured left femur.
An employee was packing trays into baskets. Upon straightening a package of product that was stuck in the steam tunnel, the employee's finger was caught in the conveyor sprocket. They sustained a partial amputation to the right ring finger.
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 311615)
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.
An employee was troubleshooting a thigh deboner on a poultry processing line. As he worked to dislodge a thigh bone caught in the blade mechanism, the machine amputated the first and second digits on his left hand. He was hospitalized.
On September 25, 2025, an employee was exiting a yard truck. They slipped and fell approximately 3 feet from the top tread of the steps to the concrete below. The employee sustained a fractured left hip.
An employee was operating a stand-up forklift, picking product for an order. The forklift struck a metal rack and the employee's left arm was caught between the forklift and the rack. He was hospitalized with a fracture to the neck of his radius and an open fracture to the olecranon (elbow).
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.
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 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.