Abstract: At approximately 2:00 p.m. on May 7, 1998, Employee #1, of Meridian Vineyards in Paso Robles, CA, was operating a tray pallet machine. The machine has a stack of pallets and drops one at a time down to a conveyor that takes it to an elevator, where the pallet is loaded with cases of wine. Many times the pallets are crooked and need to be straightened. Employee #1 was reaching in to straighten a pallet when his left hand became caught between it and the pallet magazine that lowers the pallets to the conveyor. His hand was crushed, but no bones were broken and he sustained only lacerations and temporary nerve damage. The machine had a photo light sensor but it was not operating or Employee #1 had somehow deactivated it.