Abstract: At approximately 11:45 a.m. on October 8, 1996, Employee #1, the foreman, was hand-feeding ripped pieces of 2 by 4 wood stock into a ripsaw for dadoing. He was dadoing his third piece of lumber when the push stick he was using entered the throat opening from which the dado blades protruded; a wedge-shaped piece of wood sheered off and struck his right wrist. Employee #1 sustained a puncture wound and a severe laceration. Subsequent investigation by a private safety consultant for the employer found that a cover plate was supposed to cover the opening around the dado blades, which measured 10 in. long by approximately 2 in. wide on each side of the protruding blades. At the time of the accident, the employer did not possess one of these guards because it was their first time doing dado cuts.