UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

At approximately 2:00 p.m. on April 27, 2010, Employee #1, a spring machine operator, and a coworker were removing a partially manufactured automobile wheel from the mandrel of a metal spinning machine. As Employee #1 completed a spinning operation for a wheel on an S-1 automatic-spinning machine, Model Number A/S 3040, Serial Number 03-736, and the machine stopped, he grabbed a hold of the wheel and started to pull it out of the mandrel. However, the spinning machine was still in production mode and the tailstock automatically reversed, pushing the wheel back into the mandrel and pinching Employee #1's fingers between the edge of the wheel and the mandrel. Emergency services were contacted and Employee #1 was taken to Tri City Medical Center in Oceanside, where he was hospitalized and treated for amputated ring and pinky fingers on his right hand. The incident investigation heard conflicting stories leading up to the accident, but determined that the machine was operating properly. It was determined that either Employee #1 or another worker must have depressed the controls on the machine, causing the tailstock to reverse.