Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Northrop Grumman Corporation, Bldg. 401 East High Bay, Cost Center 2200, PALMDALE, CALIFORNIA 93550
on — Amputations, affecting the fingertip(s).
Final narrative
An employee was installing a duct through a scaffold hatch. The hatch fell closed, landing on his left little finger and amputating the tip.
On August 19, 2025, at 6:30 a.m., an employee sat in the rear bench seat of a golf cart ahead of being driven to a parking lot. When the golf cart began to move, he fell off the cart and onto the ground, resulting in a fractured right hip.
An employee was standing on the driver's side deck of a moving golf cart. When it turned, they fell to the ground and sustained a dislocated right ankle and a fractured fifth toe.
An employee fell from an industrial stairway, landing on the floor about 4 feet below. He suffered a concussion and head laceration, a broken finger on the left hand, and contusions to the right shoulder, right-side ribs, and abdomen.
On April 15, 2020, an aircraft electrician was retrieving a tool that fell through the grated cover of a two-foot utility trench. While lifting the grated trench cover, he lost his grip. The trench cover fell and his middle finger was caught between the cover and the floor. He sustained an amputation without bone loss to his right middle fingertip.
An employee was operating a forklift and unloading a truck. After the truck was unloaded, the employee got off the forklift and proceeded to adjust the dock plate with a hook tool. The dock plate slipped and the employee went to adjust the plate with their hand when their left middle finger got caught. Their finger was amputated above the first joint.
An employee was rotating a carbide granulator blade when his finger was caught between the blade and a stationary part of the machine. The employee's right middle finger was partially amputated and they suffered an avulsion to the right ring fingertip.
An employee was using a CNC metal lathe machine in manual mode to check that the thread blocking tool made contact with the jaws. As the employee was manually spinning the spindle, his index fingertip was crushed between the spindle's jaws and the grooving insert, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
During a material handling operation, an employee's fingertip was caught under an air conditioning unit as the unit was lowered onto a cart. The employee's fingertip was amputated.
An employee was removing a bolt from a tractor hub when their right index finger was caught between the hub and the frame. The employee's fingertip was crushed and the employee was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 336411)
A pressurized aircraft nose landing gear strut assembly was being disassembled. The gland nut dislodged under pressure and made contact with an employee's left hand, breaking it.
A metal tooling base was being moved by a forklift when the load shifted. An employee who was assisting went to stabilize the load and prevent it from sliding off the forks. The C-channel of the base crushed the employee's left hand against the concrete ground, resulting in the amputation of their third and fourth fingers.
An employee was working on a tool platform (47.5" tall) and was transitioning around to the other side when they lost balance and fell to the concrete floor. The employee was hospitalized with fractures to seven ribs and their elbow.
On August 19, 2025, at 6:30 a.m., an employee sat in the rear bench seat of a golf cart ahead of being driven to a parking lot. When the golf cart began to move, he fell off the cart and onto the ground, resulting in a fractured right hip.
The injured employee was assisting a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) enforcement operation. During an apprehension, officers returned fire at a subject and struck the employee with a bullet. The employee sustained a gunshot wound to their right hand.
The injured employee was assisting in the disassembly phase after a radar array had been lowered and secured. The crew began removing load bearing pins from an overhead crane to free the radome. A load bearing pin was stuck. The injured employee went to remove the pin manually as a second team member applied pressure from the opposite side. The pin unexpectedly released and struck the injured employee s right thumb, resulting in partial amputation of the distal phalanx including an open distal phalanx fracture and nail bed laceration.
At about 3:10 p.m. on October 3, 2025, an employee was inspecting a car. Two dogs that had been in another car were leashed and tethered to a bollard. As the employee inspected the first car along with a narcotics detection dog, one of the other dogs came loose and attacked the narcotics dog. The employee was separating the dogs when the other dog bit his left ring finger. The last joint of the finger was injured and part of it was bitten off.
An employee was preparing a bundle of green onions for chopping. While holding the bundle in his left hand, he made his first cut using a 9-inch kitchen knife held in his right hand. The knife contacted the tip of his left thumb, resulting in an amputation of approximately 0.5 inches of the thumb that required hospitalization.