Abstract: On June 22, 1993, at approximately 1:00 p.m., Employee #1 was working as an assistant on the V.I.F. hide puller machine at the meat processing plant. After the hide was removed from the animal (carcass), the operator stopped the drum rotation, removed the chain(s), and placed the looped chain nearest the operator side over his work platform railing. As he stepped from the platform, the ram/drum controls were accidentally restarted, which activated the ram/rotating drum with two hanging chains. As this occurred, Employee #1 had stepped off his work platform, placing himself in the area in front of the animal and the hide conveyor, rather than moving the animal to the next work station in order to drop the heads as usual. The chain on the moving drum somehow became entangled around the head of Employee #1, causing a decapitation due to shearing force to his neck.