The Gruesome Statistics Behind One Of America's Most Dangerous Jobs

New government data shows that hand amputations are scarily common for meatpacking workers.

New government data shows that hand amputations are scarily common for meatpacking workers. Meatpacking is one of the dangerous jobs you can do in America. Injuries requiring time away from work are three times more common than U.S. industry as a whole. With tenderizers, grinders, hooks and extruders all around, there's always a chance you'll come off worse.

Taking advantage of new regulations requiring meat producers to report amputations and hospitalizations within 24 hours, researcher Celeste Monfortonfiled a FOIA request with the government to see how many incidents Tyson Foods, one of the largest players in the business, reported last year.

The results are eye-catching, so to speak. Tyson, which processes almost a quarter of U.S. chicken and beef, had a string of nasty accidents in the first nine months of 2015. Finger tip. Both hands. Middle finger to first knuckle. All dismembered. And the reporting only covers federal-level OSHA data. Twenty-six states have their own workplace safety inspectors, including 10 with Tyson plants located in them. Iowa for instance has its own OSHA plan...