Caught-In or Caught-Between Hazards

OSHA defines caught-in or caught-between hazards as injuries resulting from being squeezed, caught, crushed, pinched, or compressed between two or more objects, or between parts of an object. This includes individuals who get caught or crushed in operating equipment, between other mashing objects, between a moving and stationary object, or between two or more moving objects.

The key factor in making a determination between a "caught" event and a "struck-by" event is whether the impact of the object alone caused the injury. When the impact alone creates the injury, the event should be recorded as a "struck-by" event. When the injury is created more as a result of crushing between objects, the event should be recorded as a "caught-in/caught-between" event. Events that should be classified as "caught" include the following:

• Cave-ins (trenching)
• Being pulled into or caught in machinery and equipment (this includes strangulation as the result of clothing caught in running machinery and equipment)
• Being compressed or crushed between rolling, sliding, or shifting objects such as semi-trailers and a dock wall, or between a truck frame and a hydraulic bed that is lowering

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