Union Electric Steel Corporation

On March 28, 2025, an employee was assembling metal grated shelving when they dropped the shelving on their right middle finger. The finger was pinned between the grating and the shelving support structure. The distal phalanx was medically amputated.

An employee was preparing to lift a 25,000-pound forging with an overhead crane using a spreader bar and a set of chains. The chains on one side of the forging snagged on set downs and would not slide into position. The employee used his right hand to position the chains to the center of the load when the crane began to lift the forging. The employee's right middle finger was caught between the chain and the forging, resulting in amputation to the first knuckle.

An employee was heating up an area on a cast work roll with a torch. Grease was sealed in a compartment on the work roll. When the compartment was heated, the employee was splashed with heated grease, suffering second degree burns on his neck, chest, and forearms.

An employee was changing mud cups in the hopper cylinders of a concrete pump truck. The cylinders moved and three of the employees fingers were amputated.

An employee was standing on the rig floor next to a polishing unit. His hand was placed on the polishing unit when the pump was lowered, resulting in amputation of their right thumb, ring, and middle fingertips.

An employee was using air to blow out the air wash to the blender and grinder station. As the employee reached to verify that the air wash was clean, the unit pinched and amputated their fingertip.

An employee was retrieving a lost drill pipe with a lifting bail when their left thumb got pinched between the table and handle of the lifting bail while trying to re-thread the pipe to lift it out. The employee suffered an amputation to the left thumb.

An employee was removing a core chuck from a stationary roll when their right ring finger was pinched between the chuck and the roll. The employee's fingertip was amputated.

An employee was riding on the side of a forklift. He stepped off the forklift and was struck by the back end of the forklift as it turned to the right. The forklift's back tire ran over his leg, resulting in an amputation. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee was loading a nozzle, weighing approximately 500 pounds, onto a positioner. The stainless steel nozzle slipped off the positioner and struck the employee's right leg. The employee's right tibia was fractured and their left knee was bruised.

An employee was preparing a hammer and dies for operation. The ram prop was inserted in the hammer to secure the ram. While the employee went to apply grease to the die shim in the hammer, the ram moved downward. The motion dislodged the prop, causing the ram to drop and crush the employee's right hand and forearm. The employee sustained amputations to their hand and arm and was hospitalized.

An employee was doing a tool changeover on a table mill and changing the mandrel. His hands were on both wrenches with his right thumb was between the two wrenches as he worked to unlock the mandrel. The wrenches came together, crushing his thumb. The employee was hospitalized with a partial amputation of the thumb.

An employee was helping to remove tooling that was stuck in a forging press (a full-revolution mechanical power press). The press cycled, resulting in partial amputations to two fingers on his left hand.

An employee was closing a door when the door closed on their right index finger, resulting in a fingertip amputation.

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.