Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Valmont Industries, Inc., 2551 Valmont Dr, BRENHAM, TEXAS 77833
on — Amputations, affecting the fingertip(s).
Final narrative
An employee was using an overhead crane to move a 48-inch by 3-inch plate from a horizontal position to a vertical position. He had one hand on the controller and one on the clevis. When the employee let the clevis down to reposition it, his left index fingertip was pinched between the crane hook and the clevis, resulting in an amputation.
An employee was working to remove waste wire between two boat rack/spreader bars (10 feet in length, 8 inches wide, and 16 inches tall, with a center lifting point for a crane hook) in the hanging department. One boat rack was leaning on another boat rack. The employee reached between the boat racks to move the leaning boat rack and remove the waste wire. The leaning boat rack shifted and the employee's left index finger was pinched between the two racks (weighing approximately 600 pounds each). The employee sustained an abrasive amputation of the left index fingertip from the nailbed up.
An employee was rigging equipment at a manufacturing site. He was rigging a chain sling with a hook to lift up machine paneling and access the linear bearings. The chain sling hook slipped, went into the air, and struck the employee on the head, resulting in a skull fracture and brain bleed.
An employee was preparing to engage a tube line saw to cut a tube. Once the saw blade lowered and made contact with the tube, the tube jolted and pinned the employee s hand against the stop gate. As the employee's hand was caught, the tube kept rotating due to the momentum of the spinning the blade. The end of the tube cut the employee s right index finger, resulting in an amputation.
An employee was using an overhead crane to retrieve a pole from the center of a square tube stack, stacked about 3 feet high. She noticed the pole was uneven and positioned herself between the square tube and the pole cart to begin adjusting the sling. As she began to adjust the sling to find the pole's center of gravity, the pole struck the tube and caused it to fall on her lower right leg. Her tibia and fibula were broken.
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 332312)
On October 21, 2025, an employee was operating a saw when a pneumatic clamp caught their right middle finger. The employee suffered a partial amputation to the finger.
An employee completed an end cut on a metal shim and started transferring the metal shim from the saw conveyor to two saw horses in the area. The employee set one end of the shim (7 feet long x 8 inches wide, weighing 218 pounds) on one of the saw horses, then slid the other end onto the other saw horse and the shim fell from the first saw horse. The employee's left index fingertip was pinched between the saw horse and the shim, resulting in a skin avulsion. The fingertip was amputated later.
An employee was using a crane to move a 44-foot, 3,343-pound I-beam. As the beam was moving west, it straightened out (north to south), beginning to swing south toward the northwest corner of a building. The crane then sent the beam southward, directly toward the corner of the building. The beam caught the tips of the employee's left index, middle, and ring fingers against the building. The last joints of the middle and ring fingers were amputated, and the last joint of the index finger was partially crushed.
An employee was moving steel beams with an overhead crane when the bundle struck a bollard and became unstable. As the employee reached to stop the material from shifting, his thumb was pinched in-between the beams, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was rigging a steel joist to be lifted by a crane. The joist fell and pinned the employee against the concrete ground. The employee sustained fractures to multiple ribs, his right arm, right tibia, and an open fracture to his right ankle, as well as a dislocated right hip.
After cutting a slab of beef short ribs, an employee turned to grab the pieces he had cut and his right hand contacted the saw blade. The employee sustained an amputation to his right index finger.
An employee was unloading a carpet pad from a truck when they fell from the truck dock to the concrete below, resulting in five fractured ribs and an injury to their left lung.
An employee was walking up a walkway to enter a building through the back entrance when she tripped over the lip of the cement ramp. The employee fell and sustained a fractured right hip.