Abstract: At approximately 9:30 a.m. on December 15, 2001, an employee was working as a press operator fabricating illusion panels in the machine shop for Ceiling Plus. He was inexperienced. The equipment the employee was using was a folding machine (hydraulic-full-revolution press) manufactured by Gordon Industries. He was running the "Illusion Panels" which consisted of bending flanges of approximately 1.25 inches at 90 degrees on all four sides of the 0.032 gage 2 by 2 foot steel sheet. The employee was straightening the material with his right hand (the material was bent out of shape and the employee had to straighten it out by applying pressure with his right hand on the press bed). He could not see the foot control. (The folding machine is activated by two foot-controls, one activates a clamp, which holds down the material in place and the other, does the actual bending of the ceiling panels.) The employee accidentally stepped on the control that activates the clamp. The clamp came down and pinched his right ring finger, which was located within the points of operation of the clamp. At the points of operation of the folding machine, there were no guards. He amputated his right ring fingertip. The employee was transported to Western Hand Center in Long Beach, CA where he was treated and released.