Every year, 20,000 American workers suffer amputation injuries on the job. Often, doctors are unable to repair these injuries, resulting in permanent disability and even death.

Amputations occur most frequently in the manufacturing sector, followed by the construction and the retail trades. Despite their rank as one of the nation‚s top three severe workplace injuries and illnesses, statistics from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) indicate the number of amputations in both the private and public sectors is decreasing, due largely in part to that organization‚s ever-increasing enforcement of safeguards to prevent such injuries.

The decline in the number of these injuries makes it even clearer that employers CAN prevent such crippling accidents through proper policies and use of safety equipment. However, despite evidence that simple measures can reduce incidents of amputation, many employers continue to subject their employees to unsafe and hazardous working conditions.