Abstract: At approximately 5:30 a.m. on March 5, 1997, Employee #1 was operating a 3-ton Beman full-revolution bench terminator press, serial #7142. He was feeding three wires of a wire harness through a 3/4 in. by 1 1/2 in. slot in the 1/4 in. thick Lexan Plexiglas front guard. This was a crimping process, with stock fed in from a spool on the right side of the press. A part became jammed in the point of operation and instead of calling for maintenance, as he had been instructed, trained, and frequently reminded to do, Employee #1 de-energized the press by pulling the 110 volt plug from a nearby outlet. He then reached around the front guard and put his hand through a 7 1/2 in. by 4 3/4 in. opening on the left side of the guard (an identical opening was on the right side) and tried to remove the jammed part from the point of operation. As he did this, his right foot activated the pedal switch and the ram die free fell about 3/4 of a full cycle and struck against his finger. It smashed the first phalange of his left index finger and punctured the skin, but no sutures were required and there was no loss of tissue. There were no sideguards, the point of operation was not properly enclosed, and the machine was not securely anchored to the steel table workbench on which it sat. Employee #1 had approximately one year of experience