Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Cera-Met, LLC, 2175 Ave. C, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA 18017
on — Amputations, affecting the fingertip(s).
Final narrative
An employee was working with large wax die when their fingertip was caught between the top and bottom of the die, resulting in an amputation.
An employee was using a high-pressure washer to remove ceramic material from a casting. The casting was dropped, causing the employee's left index finger to be grazed by the water stream. The water pierced his glove and entered his finger.
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 331524)
An employee was grinding raw couplings on a belt sander to shave off excess material left by the manufacturing process. The employee's right hand slipped while he was pressing a part to the sander, causing his right thumb to come into contact with the sanding belt. The thumb was lacerated and broken, and the employee was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
An employee was buffing a corner casting when the rotating belt contacted her right hand, resulting in an amputation of the first segment of her right thumb.
An employee was assembling boilers, which involved stacking the flat sections of boilers on top of one another and pushing them down a non-powered roller line. While the employee was pushing a stack onto the next set of rollers, the stack became crooked. The employee went to pull back the stack to straighten it when their finger was pinched by a roller. The employee sustained a partial amputation to their left ring fingertip.
On June 25, 2025, at 7.30 a.m., an employee was using a remote-controlled crane to change a die in a 2,600-ton press. They were releasing crane cables from the die when one cable did not release, causing the die to lift and pin the employee between the press and the die. The employee suffered a closed non-displaced fracture of the pelvis.
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.