Abstract: At approximately 12:45 a.m. on October 29, 1990, Employee #1 was removing the screen and breaker plate from the adapter end of the die body of a plastic extrusion machine. About 4 hours earlier, he had followed his normal procedure of heating up the extruder and die body with an electrically controlled heating element coupled to the control panel. This procedure required that plastic left over inside the system ( the extruder and die body) be heated to a certain temperature and drained out of the system prior to connecting the die body to the extruder. Regular plastic resin is then introduced for the actual operation. Employee #1 was performing the routine procedure of removing the breaker plate when molten plastic spewed out of the adapter opening, apparently due to sudden release of pressure. He suffered first- and second-degree burns on his face and left ear.