Abstract: At approximately 7:30 a.m. on July 7, 2000, Employee #1 was using a Makita miter saw, serial #16363, to cut wooden pieces for two chairs. He placed two 10 ft long by 6 ft 6 in. wide by 1 ft thick pieces of wood on the chop saw table. He was pulling down the saw when he felt the machine catching his hand. He released the saw to find his left index finger had been completely amputated, and his middle finger had been amputated to the second knuckle. Employee #1 was transported to a local industrial clinic and then referred to County General Hospital, where his middle finger was reattached; he remained hospitalized for five days. Subsequent investigation determined that the guard designed to cover the periphery of the lower blade teeth of the Makita miter saw was not maintained in a safe operating condition. Employee #1 later stated that he did not know how the accident occurred.