Factory Workers: Five Things To Do After Machinery Accident on the Job

Working near, around, or with heavy machinery is always dangerous for workers, but especially for all those employed in our factories and manufacturing plants here in Illinois and Indiana. Of course, there are laws designed to keep factory workers safe from machinery accidents. Since 1970, there have been specific federal safety regulations mandating workers be protected from these types of injuries on the job. They are applied in Illinois and Indiana through our State OSHA programs. For more, read:

Duties of Safety and Care Defined by Law to Protect Workers From Machinery Accidents

Manufacturing safety is demanded for factory workers and plant employees through legally defined duties of care that include provisions in the Occupational Health and Safety Act and its corresponding safety regulations, including:

Subpart O Machinery and Machine Guarding, which defines the general requirements for all machinery;
Subpart I dealing specifically with Personal Protective Equipment;
Subpart S dealing specifically with Electrical Equipment Hazards;
29 CFR §1910.147 dealing specifically with Lockouts and Tagouts and Hazardous Energy;
29 CFR §1910.146 dealing with Permit-Required Confined Spaces; and
29 CFR §1910.145 dealing with the Hazard Warnings in Accident Prevention Sign and Tags.

It is recognized by government authorities, as well as safety agencies and advocates for worker victims and their loved ones that all too often, factory workers and plant employees are hurt in a preventable accident involving a machine — regardless of these long-established safety laws.

It’s the elephant in the room. Consider the recent announcement of OSHA’s annual Top Ten List of Safety Regulation Violations where several safety duties are notoriously breached pertaining directly to machine dangers:

Hazard Communication 29 CFR §1910.1200 (number two in the Top Ten);
Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) 29 CFR §1910.147 (number four in the Top Ten);
Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment 29 CFR §1926.102 (number nine in the Top Ten); and
Machine Guarding 29 CFR §1910.212 (number ten in the Top Ten).

See: “OSHA Reveals 2025 Top 10 Most Cited Standards,” written by David Kopf and published by OSH Online on September 17, 2025.

Sadly, too many employers and others with possession, custody, or control of aspects of the manufacturing plant or factory floor fail to comply with their safety duties. They ignore them or otherwise fail to keep workers safe, and as a result people are severely injured or killed in machinery accidents.

Also read: Heavy Machinery Accidents in Indiana and Illinois; and Worker Injuries Involving Industrial Equipment, Machinery, or Tools.

Five Things To Do After a Machinery Accident on the Job

1. First Things First: Medical Care for Injured Worker and Safeguarding the Job Site

Whenever there is a work accident involving machinery, obviously the priority has to be getting medical care and treatment for the injured worker as fast as possible. Someone should call 911 at once, explaining someone has been the victim of a work injury. Employers should have emergency safety protocols in place, including things like protecting the worker if it would be too risky to move them until first responders arrive. In large plants, like metal shops or food processing plants, there may be on-site medics at the ready to help the worker until paramedics get there.

The machine needs to be secured, too, as well as the surrounding work area to protect against anyone else getting hurt. This includes turning off power sources, blockading lookie-loos from getting too close, and making sure debris is secured. The needs here will depend upon the accident site: blade injuries are commonplace in food processing, for instance, while presses may result in a crushing accident in a metal fabrication job site.

For more, read: “Machine Safety in the Workplace,” published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health on January 24, 2024; and read Machine Safety in the Industrial Workplace: Danger of Catastrophic Machinery Accidents.

2. Report and Record the Machinery Accident

Workers also have legal duties in a work accident, primarily to report that someone has been hurt on the job. Either the injured worker, or a co-worker in the event that the victim is unresponsive, needs to tell supervisors on the site as soon as possible that someone has been hurt. It is important make sure that the employer records the accident. Legally, there are rules and regulations mandating employers log these incidents in detail as soon as possible.

An incident report should be presented to the injured worker by the employer. It should have a proper description of the machinery accident. Worker victims should keep a copy of this incident report for their records. Take a photo.

Different factories and plants will have different reporting practices: a big auto manufacturing plant may have an on-site safety team with internal company investigators to prepare accident reports. A small factory may have forms in binders to be completed by the supervisor. Regarding of the workplace, worker victims in a machinery accident should have details from the employer’s machine injury incident report that includes information like: the date and time of the accident; names of all witnesses; as well as identification of the machine involved, including things like its model, serial number, and any parts that failed.

The worker victim will need this report not only for filing for workers’ compensation benefits but also in any investigation of possible third party liability claims based upon the machinery injuries.

For more, read: “OSHA Reporting Rules for Machine Hazard Injuries,” written by Shawn Mantel and published by PowerSafeAutomation on August 25, 2025; and Work Accident in Illinois or Indiana: Workers Compensation Claim vs Personal Injury Damages.

3. Preserve the Machine and the Accident Scene

Either the worker or those working with the injured victim should try and document the accident scene as fast as possible after the accident happens. Photos, videos: these are important. If possible, the worker is wise to preserve not only the accident work area but the machine itself. A missing guard? This needs to be documented. Broken parts? Bad wiring? Skid marks? All this needs to be documented for the protection of the worker.

The worker victim is also prudent to keep safe their clothing and personal protective equipment they were wearing at the time of the machine accident.

The safeguarding of the site and the machine is very important from the perspective of the worker’s advocates and accident reconstruction experts. A failed machine part (think a broken press, or a snapped saw latch) may reveal liability for a parts manufacturer or a company contracted to repair and maintain the machinery at the plant or factory.

For more, read: Machine Guarding: Serious Industrial Work Accidents Caused by Moving Machine Parts.

4. Keep All Medical Documentation and Injury Consequences

The worker victim may have an astonishing number of medical records and bills as a result of the work accident. Not just the initial emergency care or hospital stay, but things like tests, therapy, and rehab can continue for weeks or months. There may be referrals. Usually there are lots and lots of prescriptions. Keep track of pain levels; changes to daily life; emotional suffering (depression, anxiety, etc.).

Not only is all this paperwork needed to prove up damages for third party civil claims as well as workers’ compensation benefits, but worker victims may need medical documentation to refute suggestions the worker victim did things to make their condition or situation worse.

See: Damages are Different: Workers’ Compensation vs Third-Party Personal Injury Claims; Workers’ Compensation and Third-Party Claims for On-the-Job Accidents; and The Two Main Differences Between Workers Compensation and Personal Injury Claims for Accident Victims in Indiana and Illinois.

5. File for Workers’ Compensation and Investigate Third-Party Civil Claims

Workers hurt on the job in a machine accident in either Illinois or Indiana should be able to get fast financial help through state workers’ compensation laws that require employers to have liability insurance policies paying benefits to employees hurt on the job. There is no need to prove fault here, and medical bills and lost wages will be covered, as well as disability if there has been long-term or permanent harm. For more, read 10 Types of Workers’ Compensation Benefits After a Work Accident in Illinois or Indiana; and 10 Types of Injury Damages That May Be Awarded to Accident Victims.

Worker victims have an independent right to investigate their machine accident in order to find all the reasons for what happened. A factory worker crushed by a press may find that the designer of a part or machine component is responsible for what happened, and have a product liability claim for damages. A food processing plant employee may find that the traumatic amputation of a finger or hand may have legal recompense against several third parties involved in the manufacturer or upkeep of the slicer or the guard.

These third party claims will provide for damages that are different and often exceed the benefits provided by the worker’s compensation coverage.

For more, read:

Workers in Chicago or anywhere in Indiana and Illinois in all sorts of workplaces are required to work near or with machines that can cause catastrophic harm or death in an instant. Understanding what to do in the event of a machine accident in a local factory or plant is important. Please be careful out there!