Hand tools · #20 of 45 by ER visits

Pliers, wire cutters & wrenches: injury statistics

Gripping, turning and cutting hand tools. In 2025 they were involved in an estimated 11,533 emergency room visits in the US.

Pliers, wire cutters & wrenches
Photo: mattartz / Unsplash
11,533
ER visits in 2025
2.7%
admitted or transferred
-4%
change since 2016
13%
aged 65 or over

ER visits per year

2016–2025 · 212 sampled cases in 2025
2016: 11,96516’2017: 11,37617’2018: 10,54318’2019: 8,37219’2020: 9,28320’2021: 7,53721’2022: 7,73022’2023: 9,26923’2024: 9,63524’2025: 11,53325’

Injury type

Share of ER visits, 2021–2025

Laceration36%
Contusion or abrasion16%
Other15%
Fracture8.5%
Strain or sprain6.4%
Internal injury3.6%

Body part injured

Share of ER visits, 2021–2025

Finger25%
Hand17%
Face14%
Head7.4%
Wrist5.3%
Eye5.1%

Age of injured people

88% male · 2021–2025

0-42.1%
5-142.3%
15-2414%
25-4440%
45-6428%
65-747.1%
75+5.6%

Real cases

From NEISS case narratives, 2024–2025. Abbreviations expanded.

75-year-old male patient was changing the oil in his lawn tractor and a wrench sipped and hit his left hand, here for pain and swelling left hand, and began to experience numbness from left ring finger cause by ring entrapment from his wedding band. — diagnosis: Contusio.
46-year-old female was using wire cutters to cut steel fencing without eye protection, struck in the left eye. — diagnosis: Ruptured globe of left eye, left retinal detachment.
40-year-old male, using torque wrench on motor block, swelling & pain fingers — diagnosis: Right hand 3rd and 4th finger contusion;.
24-year-old male injury right hand using a wrench slipped cut hand on a piece of metal at home — diagnosis: Laceration right hand.
Recalls

Recalls of pliers, wire cutters & wrenches

No CPSC recalls matched this tool type since 2010. Search all recalls.

Questions

How many people are injured by pliers, wire cutters & wrenches each year?

About 11,533 people were treated in US emergency rooms for injuries involving pliers, wire cutters & wrenches in 2025, according to CPSC's NEISS estimates. The average over 2021–2025 was 9,141 a year.

What are the most common injuries from pliers, wire cutters & wrenches?

Laceration is the most common diagnosis (36% of cases 2021–2025), and the finger is the most often injured body part (25%).

How often do injuries from pliers, wire cutters & wrenches need hospital admission?

2.7% of ER visits ended with the patient admitted or transferred to another hospital in 2021–2025.

About these numbers

National estimates from the CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), product code 857. A case is counted if the tool appears in any of its three product fields. Estimates under 1,200 or based on fewer than 20 cases are flagged. Methodology · CSV

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