Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Qvest Sanitation, LLC, 803 North Derby Lane, NORTH SIOUX CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA 57049
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was scrubbing and cleaning a conveyor belt. When he knelt down to scrub underneath the belt, his hand was caught between the belt and the turn sprocket. The employee's left middle finger was amputated.
An employee was checking the rotating paddles of a meat blender to ensure they were clean when she lost her balance and her fingers became pinched between the paddle and the wall of the blender. The employee sustained the amputation of her right index finger and lacerations to her middle and ring fingers.
While descending an 8-foot ladder an employee slipped off of a rung and fell backward, hitting his head on a 4-foot metal safety pole during the fall. The employee sustained a head injury.
An employee was cleaning the deli slicing room conveyor belt (the belt after the slicer) when the belt caught his glove and pulled his hand into the roller of the drive shaft. His left middle finger was amputated.
On April 10, 2017, an employee was cleaning equipment when it partially amputated the employee's left middle and ring fingers. The equipment was not locked out at the time.
Two employees were repairing the hydraulic engagement pins on a rented front-end wheel loader. The machine controls were activated to move the attachment pins and an employee's finger was caught between the pins and the bushings. Their right index finger was partially amputated.
An employee was cleaning the conveyor on a piece of equipment when they slipped and their right hand was pulled into the chain sprocket. The employee's fifth fingertip was amputated.
An employee was throwing blankets onto a blanket folding and stacking machine. A blanket got stuck in the machine and she attempted to remove it when the machine contacted her right little finger, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 561720)
An employee was rinsing a food processing machine at a facility and went to stabilize himself. His left hand contacted the surface of the machine and a guard inadvertently closed, crushing the tip of his ring finger and resulting in an amputation and fracture.
An employee was performing janitorial duties on the 15th floor of a building that was under construction. She began having trouble breathing. The employee was hospitalized with lung irritation caused by dust.
On October 17, 2025, an employee was descending a fixed two-step stool when she slipped, landed on her left leg, and suffered a broken femur. She was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
An employee slipped while getting on a trailer. His chin struck the trailer jack, and he suffered fractures to his jawbone and thyroid cartilage. He was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
A crew was finishing work for the day at a job site. An insulated modular panel (IMP) being used as a door fell on an employee. She suffered a dislocated shoulder, a broken arm, and a gash on her left leg. She was hospitalized, requiring surgery for the arm/shoulder injury.
An employee was moving a tensile strength test device with a dolly. The device fell from the dolly onto the employee's right leg, causing a compound fracture.
An employee was walking past a crossover conveyor when a ramp came down and hit them in the back. The employee sustained a broken back vertebra, as well as a concussion, and was hospitalized.
An employee was using a hook tool to pull a pallet onto the lift gate of a tractor trailer. The hook detached from the underside of the pallet, causing the employee to fall backward off the lift gate. The employee landed on the concrete parking lot about 5 feet below, suffering fractures to the skull and two thoracic vertebrae.
An employee was walking on a truss table when he lost his balance and fell approximately 3 feet to the floor. The employee sustained a dislocated and fractured left ankle.