Severed limbs are among the most devastating injuries that can occur in a workplace. They are also among the most common.  Severed limbs occur as a result of unsafe or untrained operations of shears, power presses, conveyors, food slicers, meat grinders, powered and non-powered hand tools, and other industrial equipment.  Accidental amputations can also occur during handling of materials, when heavy loads are dropped on limbs, while using forklifts or other heavy machinery, or when limbs get stuck between powered doors.

According to OSHA, some workers are more prone to severed or accidentally amputated llimbs than others.  For instance, persons who work with rotating machinery and blades that can snag clothing or limbs, machinery that involves back and forth motions with the potential for entrapment, tools used in slicing, cutting, shearing, and grinding, and punching or stamping equipment may be more likely to have their limbs caught in the sharp machinery with tragic consequences.

Prevention of Amputated / Severed Limbs

Hazardous machinery can be found in almost every plant, but this doesn't mean that accidents and injuries have to be routine or acceptable.  OSHA requires employers to only purchase machinery that has sufficient safeguards installed to protect workers from accidental amputation and severed limbs. If there are no pre-existing safeguards in the equipment, then employers are required to have proper safeguards installed. These safeguards can be in the form of barriers that act as a protective shield by placing a barricade between the worker and the machine.  These should be however, designed to reduce obstruction and prevent visual interference while the worker is performing his duties.  Other safeguards that can prevent accidental amputation are devices that will stop a machine automatically when a worker's hands are at the most dangerous point of operation, or prevent the worker from placing his hands in hazardous areas in the equipment. These devices can act to boost the safety features of barriers, thereby preventing severed limbs.

Severed limbs can result not only during operations of machinery, but also during maintenance, and start up or wind down operations.  In many accidents resulting in accidental amputations, OSHA cites employers who fail to have proper lock out and start up procedures that would prevent accidental starting of the machine while cleaning or maintenance procedures are ongoing.  There may also be a failure to train employees about the proper procedures to be followed not just in operations, but also during maintenance, and start up and wind down processes.  Other employer failures can include poor maintenance of machinery, and failure to provide safety barriers to prevent any amputation accidents.  In fact, failure to provide proper barriers is one of the most common reasons why so many workers suffer from accidents that lead to accidentally amputated or severed limbs each year.