Contact with objects and equipment, unspecified · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Owen Steel Company, Inc., 601 Garaches Lane, WILMINGTON, DELAWARE 19801
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
An employee was placing a block under a steel plate when the plate slipped and caused an amputation to their right thumb.
AmputationFinger(s), fingernail(s), unspecifiedMetal plates, metal panels
On 02/05/2015 at approximately 1:00 p.m., an employee was operating a plate punch ironworker machine. A piece of steel jammed, and he tried to dislodge or unjam it from the machine. The tip of his left index finger was pinched by the machine resulting in the loss of the fingertip and some of the finger nail.
Two employees were struck by the rotary table of a drilling rig while installing caisson. Employee 1 suffered multiple fractures, internal injuries, and head trauma. Employee 2 suffered multiple fractures, internal injuries, spinal injury, and head trauma.
Employees were felling hazard trees. The injured employee was conducting 'bucking' operations to saw a tree from the road when the tree kicked-back, pinning him against the ground and fracturing his left femur. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was chaining a vehicle when he had to change tools and the compressor. As the compressor was being charged, the employee stepped near the vehicle to make sure the compressor was attached. Then, he instructed a co-worker to lower the compressor. His right hand was on the compressor and under the chain, causing his ring finger to be crushed.
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.
A flagger was directing traffic flow in a highway work zone. They were standing approximately 1.5 feet behind the shoulder's demarcating line, next to and slightly behind a traffic drum. As they were directing traffic into and out of the driveway of a parking lot, a car attempted to get around a truck and struck the traffic drum, which subsequently struck the employee, who was thrown 15 feet and landed on top of concrete aggregate. The employee suffered pelvic and rib fractures, T10 and L3 vertebra fractures, and internal bleeding.
An employee was troubleshooting a power washer in the field. Because there might have been water in its fuel, he brought it back to the shop and drained about a gallon of fuel from the tank into a plastic container. Some of the fuel spilled onto the floor and ignited. The employee was stomping out the fire when he lost his balance and tripped into a stool, which caused the plastic container to spill more fuel onto the fire. The employee's pants and shirt caught on fire, and he fell, abrading his knee while trying to get through the flames. As well as the knee abrasion, he suffered burns to the left leg and left lower quadrant of the torso. He was hospitalized.
An employee was backing up a tram (towing powered industrial equipment) to connect it to a trash bin. The employee's left forearm/wrist was caught and crushed between the tram and the bin. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee went to lift a carton and tripped on a different carton that was on the floor. She fell on the floor in the backroom and sustained a fractured right hip, and abrasions to her arm and knee. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.