Gerdau Long Steel North America Midlothian Mill

A maintenance employee and a coworker were responding to a call in which an air intake hose had become disconnected from the air pump inlet. Upon arrival, the injured employee and coworker went to the electrical panel, which powered four 40-horsepower motors. The power to pump number 13-1 was turned off. The employee then went to the location of air pump 31-2 and reached around the intake to confirm there was no suction. The unit was still operating and sucked his left hand into the air intake impeller, severely injuring four fingers and resulting in the amputation of the first digit to the middle finger. The left hand index finger required sutures with no loss of bone, and the ring and little fingers had minor avulsions.