FACTS

The Most Common Machine Shop Injuries

1. Material handling and repetitive strain injuries.
2. Hand tool-related injuries.
3. Chemical hazards and poor ventilation.
4. Failure to act.
5. Poor guarding techniques.

STATS

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that workers operating and maintaining machinery on an annual basis experience approximately 18,000 amputations, lacerations, crushing injuries, abrasions and more than 800 fatalities.
• According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2019, just over 3 injury incidents happened per every 100 full-time machine shop workers.
• Machine guarding violations have been on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Top Ten most frequently cited list from 2013 to 2019.
• Data from the NTOF also showed that machine always were responsible for 14% of occupational fatalities, making them the second leading cause of work-related deaths in the country.
• There was a total of 14,625 work-related deaths caused by machines – 770 deaths per year on average. During the same period, there was a 32% drop in work-related deaths caused by machines. There was a 22% drop in deaths caused by mobile machinery and a 56% drop in deaths caused by stationary machinery.
• The annual average occupational fatality rate (caused by machines) was 0.6 per 100,000 FTE. There was a yearly drop of 2.8% in the overall machine-related occupational fatality rate per 100,000 FTE. Similarly, there was an annual drop of 2.6% in mobile machine-related fatality rate and a decline of 3.5% in fixed machine-related fatality rate per 100,000 FTE.