Abstract: At about 4:30 p.m. on September 7, 1994, Employee #1 was using a hand-operated press brake. The press brake is a Roper Whitney, model 1016 GA16, serial #64-12-92. There is no power to the brake; it only works by manually pulling on a handle. Employee #1 had put a piece of sheet metal into the brake to about 3/8 in. from the point of operation. He started to make an adjustment on the sheet metal by placing his fingers in the point of operation. At that time the handle came down on its own and closed the brake. The tip of his left index finger was amputated. He was taken to Lompoc Hospital, where he stayed about 1 1/2 hours. Employee #1 had not put the handle all the way up and this is why the handle came down. Also, there is a warning sign on the brake to never put fingers in the bending jaws. No citations were issued on the accident. Employee #1 had operated a machine like this many times before.