Struck by running powered equipment during maintenance, cleaning, testing · Amputations, avulsions, enucleations unspecified
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Harbor Freight Tools Texas L.P., 3401 S Brandon Rd, ELWOOD, ILLINOIS 60421
on — Amputations, avulsions, enucleations unspecified, affecting the Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s).
Final narrative
An employee was re-tensioning the pulleys on a conveyor belt in a shipping merge. He restarted the conveyor and his right index finger got caught in the belt, which pulled it into a pulley and amputated the top of the finger just past the fingertip. The pulleys were not guarded at the time of the incident.
Amputation Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s) Conveyors belt, slot, chain
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 493110)
On October 30, 2025, an employee was working to adjust a stackable metal shipping container. As the container dropped into place, it caught the employee's hands in an area between the upper and lower cross-members. The employee suffered a laceration to the left ring finger that required stitches, bruising to the right ring finger, and fractures to the right middle finger that necessitated medical amputation of the fingertip.
An employee was operating an extruder and performing a spool swap over from the right spindle to the left spindle. After rewiring the new spool, the employee's clothing got caught in the turning shaft when the left spindle started back up. The employee's left arm was pulled into the machine, resulting in a fractured humerus and lacerations to her triceps. She was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was resetting a warehouse racking system utilizing an order picker. They fell approximately 5 feet from the order picker to the concrete floor and sustained fractured ribs.
An employee was changing a die in a press when the die slipped and crushed the employee's left index finger. The employee sustained an open facture of the tuft of the left distal phalanx and a partial amputation.
An employee was driving a boom lift (in the lowered position) in an exterior dock area. The lift s left wheels rolled onto base plates that covered a 3-foot-deep sump pit. The base plates failed, and one side of the lift dropped. The employee's left leg was caught under the lift basket, and he suffered a fracture to the lower leg including the ankle.