Caught or wedged between objects nonrunning · Amputations, avulsions, enucleations unspecified
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Valmont Industries, Inc., 25055 alliance drive, CLAREMORE, OKLAHOMA 74017
on — Amputations, avulsions, enucleations unspecified, affecting the Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s).
Final narrative
An employee was working to remove waste wire between two boat rack/spreader bars (10 feet in length, 8 inches wide, and 16 inches tall, with a center lifting point for a crane hook) in the hanging department. One boat rack was leaning on another boat rack. The employee reached between the boat racks to move the leaning boat rack and remove the waste wire. The leaning boat rack shifted and the employee's left index finger was pinched between the two racks (weighing approximately 600 pounds each). The employee sustained an abrasive amputation of the left index fingertip from the nailbed up.
Amputation Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s) Hoisting accessories n.e.c.
An employee was rigging equipment at a manufacturing site. He was rigging a chain sling with a hook to lift up machine paneling and access the linear bearings. The chain sling hook slipped, went into the air, and struck the employee on the head, resulting in a skull fracture and brain bleed.
An employee was preparing to engage a tube line saw to cut a tube. Once the saw blade lowered and made contact with the tube, the tube jolted and pinned the employee s hand against the stop gate. As the employee's hand was caught, the tube kept rotating due to the momentum of the spinning the blade. The end of the tube cut the employee s right index finger, resulting in an amputation.
An employee was using an overhead crane to retrieve a pole from the center of a square tube stack, stacked about 3 feet high. She noticed the pole was uneven and positioned herself between the square tube and the pole cart to begin adjusting the sling. As she began to adjust the sling to find the pole's center of gravity, the pole struck the tube and caused it to fall on her lower right leg. Her tibia and fibula were broken.
An employee was using an overhead crane to move a 48-inch by 3-inch plate from a horizontal position to a vertical position. He had one hand on the controller and one on the clevis. When the employee let the clevis down to reposition it, his left index fingertip was pinched between the crane hook and the clevis, resulting in an amputation.
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 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.
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 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 conducting routine maintenance on a mixer. New lid pins had been installed, and the employee was rotating by hand to ensure they had been installed correctly. The employee's left middle finger was caught between the lid and top of a pin. The momentum from the mixer continued, causing a crushing injury to the finger. The employee underwent a medical amputation from the top knuckle to the tip of the finger.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 332812)
An employee was cutting steel channels from a hanging rack that was being supported by a forklift. When they were finished, the forklift started moving the rack out of the area and a piece of material snagged one of the rack legs, causing the rack to tilt backward. The rack slipped off the forklift and struck the employee on his right side/lower back. He sustained a fractured pelvis and was hospitalized.
An employee was performing maintenance on a coating machine and the belt cover guard was removed to repair the belt. The moving belt caught the employee's fingers and pulled them between the belts, injuring three fingers on the employee's left hand. The fingernails were removed from their little and middle fingers. The ring finger was amputated at the first knuckle.
An employee was stacking steel grating. The grating moved and their right ring finger got caught between grating. The last digit of the ring finger was amputated.
An employee was cleaning a rotor plate in the sound room. A ventilation pipe was pushed through an opening in a wall while equipment was being reassembled after cleaning. The employee was struck by the falling pipe (14 inches long, 10-inch diameter) and sustained a severe laceration to the right hand, a fractured finger, and a lacerated tendon. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was helping to move a 1,300-pound coil on a cart. The steel caster hit a crack in the concrete, the weld holding the caster onto the cart broke, and the coil and cart tipped over onto the employee. He was hospitalized with a laceration on his forehead and a pelvic fracture on his right side.
An employee was working in the food service warehouse when he experienced chest pain, difficulty breathing, and lost consciousness. The employee sustained carbon monoxide poisoning.
An employee was cutting a piece of metal rod with a metal cutting machine. His right middle finger became caught between the rod and the machine's table. The employee's fingertip was partially amputated.
An employee was working at her desk. She went to stand up and fell to the floor beside the desk. The employee sustained a hip displacement and required surgery.
An employee was processing wood boards at a chop saw when the saw malfunctioned and the blade cut her left hand and fingers. She was hospitalized and her little finger was surgically amputated.