Abstract: On May 8, 1986, Employee #1 was cleaning up the storage yard of a facility that manufactures and repairs trash dumpsters, trash compactors, and bodies for trash trucks. He wheeled out an oxygen/acetylene cutting drum and started to cut a 55-gallon drum that had originally been used to hold toluene. The drum ruptured, causing Employee #1 to sprain his thumb. According to the foreman and coworkers, the 18-year-old employee, who had been trained at a private sector training school, had been instructed on May 7, 1986, not to use a torch to cut barrels but to use a hammer or cold chisel. No one saw him remove the torch from the shop. There were no apparent violations; rather, this was an apparent case of misconduct on the part of the employee.