Abstract: At approximately 2:00 a.m. on December 20, 1996, Employee #1, of the Van Can Company, was using a 5 in. diameter buffing wheel to polish a 6 3/4 in. outer diameter by 4 3/4 in. inner diameter shim, which is a thin metal spacer used for the die/cupping of a punch press. Somehow, the inner diameter of the shim caught the semi-soft buffing wheel; this took a chunk out of the wheel and caught the shim, pulling it in. Employee #1's gloved right hand became caught between the inner diameter of the shim and the buffing wheel. His little, ring, and middle fingers sustained lacerations and were partially amputated.