Spears Manufacturing Co.

An employee was feeding a PVC pipe into a band saw when the pipe shattered and their hand contacted the saw blade. Four fingers were amputated.

An employee was stationed at a surge hopper material silo air cylinder valve in an injection mold department. She noticed that material was not feeding and that the valve was loose. While working on the machine, the valve activated and pinched her right middle finger, causing the amputation of the fingertip.

An employee was inspecting a generator whose radiator was leaking. He slipped, and a fan blade in the generator amputated his thumb and index finger.

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 casting machine jammed. An employee's hand was caught in the machine, where a belt line caught and amputated the tip of his 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.

Employees were hooking up a new reel of pipe to be processed into shorter lengths. This process involved routing a winch cable through a haul-off and attaching it to the pipe using a clamp. One employee held the winch cable while another pressed the feed-out button to loosen the cable. The cable tightened and pulled the hand of the employee holding it into a pulley. The employee's right index and middle fingertips were amputated at the first knuckle.

An employee was cutting pipe using a saw when she received an electrical shock from the power tool. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee was overseeing production on a winder machine and went to clear a jam when the head stock amputated their right thumb and index fingertip.

On 8/22/2025, an employee was working to clear a grinder jam. The employee was using a "no-touch tool" to rotate the drum of the grinder. He slipped forward and his right hand contacted a pinch point between the backside of the blade and the grinder housing. The employee's right middle fingertip was partially amputated with bone loss.

At about 1:25 a.m. on August 14, 2025, an employee was operating a 10-inch band saw at a molding machine. The employee was working to cut the sprue off a PVC fitting. The blade snagged on the sprue and pulled his left index finger into the blade, which cut it. The finger was partially medically amputated.

An employee tripped over a bin and fell to the floor. She landed on her hip and braced herself with her arm, resulting in a fractured hip and wrist.

An employee was diagnosing the lack of flow of product to a powder bin. The employee removed the rotary star valve below the bin. While he was reinstalling the valve, his right middle finger was crushed between its shaft and its housing. The finger was partially amputated.

An employee was standing on a multi-purpose ladder installing head flashing over a window. Their feet were approximately 6 feet off the ground and three rungs from the top. The employee lost their grip on the drill they were using and the ladder tipped over. The employee fell from the ladder to the ground, resulting in a fractured left wrist, bruised chest, and lacerations to their face and lip.

An employee was inspecting the overhead area of a single-person lift and repositioning the lift through a double doorway. As they were transitioning through the doorway, they were caught between the doorframe and the vertical mast of the lift. The employee was hospitalized with injuries to the nose, left maxillary sinus, left orbital bone, and left jaw, with fractures at the maxillary sinus area.

An employee was loading a 4-inch wooden door into a pickup truck when he felt a pop in his right side behind his shoulder blade. He was hospitalized later that day and underwent surgery, having suffered a collapsed right lung.