Abstract: Employee #1, a journeyman machinist with 15 years experience, works for a company that manufactures complete parts and machinery and does some silo/tank fabrication. He was checking for smoothness on a work piece by placing his right index finger in the end hole as it was being turned to final tolerance. His finger was caught between a keyway and the boring bar and amputated between the middle and distal knuckles. The employer does not have a complete safety (IIDD) program. The employee said he had checked for smoothness in this way for years and only reluctantly admitted that it was an unsafe practice.