Abstract: At approximately 2:00 p.m. on June 18, 1997, Employee #1 was off-loading boards from the head saw in a veneer mill and operating a Corley E535 edger, serial #E-536-046. He was operating the laser beam adjustments and entering boards into the edger. An 18 in. wide by 17 ft long by 1 in. thick board ran in through the anti-kickback fingers and through the feed rolls, but a buttswell knot caught on the right vertical structure of the edger opening and the board became caught. Employee #1, who apparently had been instructed to shut the machine off and manually remove stuck boards, instead used the next board to push, butt, and force the stuck board through the opening. The second board suddenly rode up onto the top of the first board and went on through the kickback fingers, which now were intact on that board. When Employee #1 freed up the feed rolls, the 18 in. saw blade threw the first board back down the entire length of the edger feed table and into his right ribs. He suffered a bruised right lung and a severely lacerated liver and died of massive internal hemorrhaging. Subsequent interviews and statements confirmed that other operators did the same thing to free up boards, and that there were no JSA, SJP, or SOP written procedures for such occurrences. Employee #1 had previously worked for the company for approximately 1 1/2 years and had just been rehired on May 29, 1997 after a three-year hiatus.