Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Mueller Co. LLC, 500 W. Eldorado, DECATUR, ILLINOIS 62526
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
On November 17, 2020, at 7:30 p.m. an employee was using a drill press when his glove became entangled in the drill bit resulting in amputation of a finger at the first knuckle.
On November 25, 2024, an assembly line employee was preparing to hoist a fully assembled cast iron fire hydrant using a C-clamp hoist. Their left index fingertip became caught between the hook and the eye ring resulting in amputation of the fingertip.
An employee was using a vacuum to clean chips around the table of a drill press when their gloved left hand was caught in the drill bit, resulting in amputations to the index, middle, and ring fingertips.
An employee was loading hydrants onto a paint line bed using hoists and clamps. A hydrant slipped and their fingertip was pinched between the hydrant and clamp, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
An employee was using an impact gun to remove a nut from a pneumatic cylinder during the disassembly of a test cell. When the gun made contact with the nut, residual pneumatic pressure caused the cylinder to release. The employee's left hand was pinned between a rod end of the cylinder and the rod end plate. The employee was hospitalized and had surgery for a hematoma.
An employee was using a bar to remove casting debris from a rotary screen. The bar contacted the rotating portion of the screen and bent, and the employee's right hand was pushed against the machine, resulting in a compound fracture. The employee was hospitalized and had surgery.
An employee was sharpening peeler blades when their shirt was caught in the grinding wheel. The employee sustained tendon damage and a crushed right hand.
An employee was preparing to cut lumber on a panel saw when the clamp engaged and caught the employee's left middle finger, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 332996)
An employee was rolling a pipe in a cutting rack and his right little finger became caught between sections of the pipe. The employee's finger was surgically amputated.
An employee was working a vertical bandsaw, cutting half-inch diameter rods into pieces. While using a steel chisel to move the cut pieces, the blade caught his leather glove and pulled his index finger in. The employee sustained an amputation of the finger between the first and second knuckle.
An employee was operating a lathe in a machine shop. The rotating head of the lathe caught the employee's left glove, resulting in a compound open fracture to the left wrist and a laceration to left ear.
An employee was descending the stairs of an oil/gas rig. As he approached the fifth step from the bottom, he slipped. His left ankle was caught in the steps, and he suffered fractures to the left fibula, tibia, and talus. He was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
The injured employee was loading a piece of pipe into a pipe bending machine. He had his right hand on the front of the loader while his left hand supported the piece of pipe in the back. A second operator had slightly clamped around the pipe to keep it in place. The third operator called out a measurement. The machine actuated and caught the the injured employee's left middle and ring fingers between the wiper and the material. The employee required surgery and sustained amputations to the distal joint of the middle and ring fingers.
An employee was changing a die in a press when the die slipped and crushed the employee's left index finger. The employee sustained an open facture of the tuft of the left distal phalanx and a partial amputation.
An employee was driving a boom lift (in the lowered position) in an exterior dock area. The lift s left wheels rolled onto base plates that covered a 3-foot-deep sump pit. The base plates failed, and one side of the lift dropped. The employee's left leg was caught under the lift basket, and he suffered a fracture to the lower leg including the ankle.