Abstract: At 10:30 a.m. on February 18, 1993, Employee #1 was working with a dry wall texture mixing and pump machine. Employee #1 stated that the machine had sat out in the rain for a period of time and when he started the engine, the v-belt began to smoke (slipping). He stated that he took a stick and hit the belt, and a stuck lower slave pulley jumped up and caught his fingers. Upon investigation, it was found that there is no slave pulley in the system. The employer said there was no stick around. It appears that Employee #1 hit the belt with his hand and his fingers became caught in the v-belt and were pulled into the pulley drive nip point. It was reported that belts sometime slip and smoke upon starting, but only for a short time. The engine compartment is guarded by a top-hinged horizontal screen and a front vertical screen. The front screen has to be opened to start the engine. Employee #1 reached through the open top guard to the pulley system on the back side of the engine with his right hand. He was taken to Enloe Hospital, where he was treated for the amputation of his 2nd and 3rd fingertips, 1/4-inch below the fingernails.