Abstract: Employee #1 was assigned to bend small pieces of metal on a Chicago press brake. He had bent approximately 300 pieces of metal in his first hour of work, with only two or three pieces getting stuck, when another piece became quite stuck. He failed to follow the required procedure and turn off the machine and use a pair of pliers to remove the piece of metal. Instead, with the machine still on and while sitting on a metal stool, he reached in with his right hand to free the piece of metal. While Employee #1 was bending forward, his left foot slipped from the stool onto the unguarded elevated foot pedal, which was 9 3/4 in. from the floor. This engaged the machine without him realizing it; the brake came down, severely lacerating the ring finger on his right hand. Employee #1 removed his foot from the pedal, which stopped the bending/crushing action. A coworker helped to free him and first aid was started. It took 20 stitches to treat his finger, and he lost two weeks of work as a result of his injuries. The company had set procedures on how to operate the machine and what to do if a piece of metal became stuck. The press brake was not equipped with a guard, and the management stated that the machine could not operate properly with two-hand controls or an electric eye because of the different sizes of the metal being bent.