Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at TEXAS STEEL CONVERSION, 3101 HOLMES RD., HOUSTON, TEXAS 77051
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was feeding a 25-foot pipe into an inbound punch straightener. The employee was positioning the pipe with a cheater bar with his right hand on the cheater bar and his left hand on the railing of the punch straightener. The pipe contacted the employee's left thumb on the railing, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was color coding the ends of pipes with spray paint. A pipe got stuck on the flapper that moves the pipes up to the table. The employee went to clear the pipe and another pipe fell back on his right arm, causing a laceration that required hospitalization.
An employee was trying to unjam 1,700-pound steel pipes. A pipe rolled back and crushed his fingers against another pipe. His left little finger was amputated and the ring finger was injured, requiring stitches.
An employee was visually inspecting the liner plates. While conducting the inspection, the employee's gloved right hand was caught in the machine roller resulting in a crushing injury to the hand. The machine was not guarded at the time of the incident.
An employee was threading a pipe on a CNC lathe. The machine activated while he was holding a piece of sand paper between the chuck and the pipe. His right middle finger was amputated.
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 332811)
On October 7, 2025, an employee was pulling a customer load out of post-wash equipment when his left index finger was pinched between the sled and the roller on the charge cart conveyor, resulting in a fingertip amputation between the nail and first joint.
An employee was welding a bearing on a piece of equipment. He was lying on the belt while performing this task. The welding rod contacted the employee or the belt and the employee was shocked by electricity. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was lighting a pilot light that burns off residual oxygen in the purge chamber of a heat-treating furnace. Residual gas and built-up oxygen in the purge chamber caused an explosion, which blew the front of the furnace's door off its track and the hood/exhaust system off its rivets. The employee was knocked down and suffered burns and lacerations to the left side of his face.
A temporary employee was moving a load using a walk-behind powered industrial vehicle (PIV). He backed into a safety bollard and his leg was pinned between the PIV and the bollard, resulting in a crush injury and laceration to the lower leg. The employee was hospitalized for surgery.
An employee was setting up a work piece on the honing machine when his left hand fingers were crushed in a pinch point. The employee sustained an amputation of the distal joint of his ring finger.
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.