Abstract: At approximately 2:40 p.m. on September 25, 1999, an employee of a metal building manufacturer received a serious injury. The employee had been a machine operator for the company for three years. He was working at the plate line, at a machine called the plate press. Various sizes of steel are fed into the machine, which automatically cuts holes in the steel plates. When this process is completed, the metal plate is released through an opening in the machine and falls onto a metal roller conveyor. There is an opening between the machine drop area and conveyor of approximately six in. When the machine is making small plates, as small as 3 in. square, the plates drop through this opening into a bucket onto the ground. This is because the smaller plates get caught between the metal rollers of the conveyor. On the day of the accident, the employee was making plates that were about 12 in. square. The plates were falling on the conveyor, but one plate had tilted back off the conveyor toward the opening. When the employee reached for the plate, another piece of product came out of machine catching his finger between the two pieces of product. The employee received an amputation of his middle finger, left hand, below nail area. Since the accident, employer has provided a solid metal sheet to cover opening when they are doing stock of this size. Employer was cited for failure to report this accident, and also a general violation that machines or equipment shall be located and guarded so that the product, waste stock, or material being worked or processed does not endanger employees.