Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at NLMK Pennsylvania, 15 Roemer Blvd., FARRELL, PENNSYLVANIA 16121
on — Amputations, affecting the toes(s), toenail(s).
Final narrative
An employee was climbing up out of an area after inspecting a piece of equipment. When a looper table actuated, his left foot was caught and crushed between the table's mechanical stop and a mechanical block. Multiple toes were medically amputated.
Three employees were using a portable hydraulic press to remove a part from a machine during maintenance operations. The portable hydraulic press weighs 40 to 50 pounds and is about half the size of a coffee can. The portable press disengaged during operation and fell off the machine, striking and amputating the injured employee's left pinky finger.
An employee was attempting to plug a power tool into a receptacle outlet while stepping over a wire rope sling that was laying on the floor. He tripped over the wire rope swing, fell, twisted, and hit the floor, fracturing his right femur.
An employee was turning an elevated crane load (mill roll) by hand when his left hand was caught in the load. As he pulled his hand free, his left pinky finger suffered an avulsion. His fingertip had to be medically 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 331110)
An employee was doing a cable change on top of an electric overhead traveling (EOT) crane. They were positioned between the cable drum and the drive shaft. While rotating the cable drum, the employee reached for the new cable that was to be installed. The grease fitting on the drive shaft caught their fall harness and pulled them underneath the drive shaft. The employee was pinned between the drive shaft and two pieces of angle steel, resulting in a fracture to their left hip.
An employee was working to close a furnace door. The hydraulic mechanism that opens and closes the furnace door was non-operational and had been disconnected to allow the furnace door to be opened manually. As the employee was releasing the pins that held the door open, the door and the hydraulic cylinder fell, pinching their left hand between the hydraulic cylinder's base plate and the furnace. The employee suffered amputation of the little fingertip.
A rolling mill was shut down due to a cobble between two mill stands. The injured employee was cleaning the cobble from the delivery side of stand A, while another employee went to the control panel to move stand B and stand A moved instead. The injured employee's right thumb got caught between the delivery guide of stand A and the looper trough. The tip of his thumb required surgical amputation to the bone to allow for stitches.
An employee was helping another employee load stock material onto a press brake when the stock slipped. The injured employee's right index finger was caught between the press brake die and the stock, resulting in amputation at the first knuckle.
An employee was walking into the motor control center (MCC) room when his right ring finger was caught in the hinge of a doorway. He sustained an open phalanx fracture, which resulted in a partial amputation above the first knuckle.
An employee was changing the spacing on a telehandler's forks. A fork slipped, and the employee's left index finger was caught between it and the mast. The fingertip was medically amputated at the first knuckle.
An employee was pulling down a broken skid with a forklift. When the employee backed up the forklift to get the forks out of the skid he pulled down, he contacted the forks of another parked forklift, fracturing both of his legs. He was hospitalized.
An employee was carrying cups back to the kitchen when her foot got caught on a cart and she fell face-first. During the fall, a piece of glass from a cup cut the inside of her mouth, severing an artery. She also sustained a laceration on her lower lip. The employee was hospitalized.