Abstract: At approximately 1:25 p.m. on April 15, 1991, Employee #1 was operating a Monarch #2 knitting machine. The rolls of fabric on the knitting machine required cleaning approximately every 30 minutes. To start a new cycle, Employee #1 had to open the safety guard and enter the guard net which houses the take-up mechanism. He had to cut then had to cut the fabric, remove the fabric roll, and insert a new roll on the take-up mechanism. While Employee #1 was doing this, for some reason the take-up mechanism began to rotate, dragging Employee #1 around in its periphery. He suffered acute multiple soft tissue trauma. Subsequent investigation revealed that the guard net lock microswitch had been disconnected from its circuitry so it could not prevent reenergizing of the machine. Proper lockout procedure could have been prevented the machine from activating.