Struck by running powered equipment during maintenance, cleaning, testing · Amputations, avulsions, enucleations unspecified
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Western Potatoes Inc, 189 Brayton Road, ALLIANCE, NEBRASKA 69301
on — Amputations, avulsions, enucleations unspecified, affecting the Forearm(s).
Final narrative
An employee had just finished repairing a chain and sprocket. He turned on the machinery and his sleeves got caught in the chain and sprocket. The employee sustained partial amputation of his lower left arm. The employee was hospitalized.
A temporary employee turned off a planer machine, opened the housing, and began clearing a jam. The machine's spinning blade caught his right hand and degloved the index finger.
An employee was using a tool to remove a rag from a roll on the tube mill. The roll pulled the tool and the employee's right hand into the roll, resulting in a partial amputation of the little finger and a fracture to the index finger.
A production sanitation employee was pre-rinsing an incline conveyor and noticed cheese stuck between the belt idler. The employee went to remove the cheese and their glove got caught and pulled their left forearm into the conveyor. The employee's arm was fractured. The machine was not locked out/tagged out at the time.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 424480)
An employee was removing a rug entangled in the rear tire of a powered industrial truck (PIT). The PIT was raised and supported by a fork truck jack. The PIT shifted/fell and struck the employee's hand. The employee's index fingertip was amputated and the employee was hospitalized.
On May 14, 2025, at approximately 6:30 AM, a driver was making a delivery at a customer s site when their hand was crushed in a roll-up door. The employee's finger was fractured in three locations and required surgical amputation.
An employee was operating a tractor and utilizing a 2.5-foot kinetic rope and a 1-inch soft shackle to pull another tractor that was stuck in the mud. An additional 30-foot kinetic rope with a soft shackle was hooked up to provide distance from the soft soil. While pulling, the loop end of the terminal shackle on the stuck tractor frayed and released the rope, causing it to recoil back at the pulling tractor. The rope(s) struck the back of the pull tractor, broke the rear window, and struck the employee. The employee was pushed forward into the steering wheel and sustained severe lacerations to the head and a collapsed lung.
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An employee was climbing a ladder to inspect a vent in a restaurant dining area. The ladder slid out on the floor and the employee fell approximately 12 feet onto the ladder and the floor. He was hospitalized with a dislocated shoulder and a back injury.
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An employee was cleaning out corn from a grain bin. The sweep auger in the bin was activated and caught his trouser leg. His leg was pulled into the auger, which injured his calf and caused leg fractures and lacerations.