Abstract: At approximately 7:45 a.m. on June 30, 1996, Employee #1, who worked in the cold food preparation area of a restaurant, was using a commercial food processing machine to dice tomatoes. He was manually placing tomatoes into a 2 1/2 in. by 5 1/2 in. chute that was 8 in. above a spinning blade. A built-in, hinged push rod/pad then pushed the tomatoes into the blade. The feed chute was empty and the machine was on when Employee #1 reached to his right to get more tomatoes. He lost his balance and in his effort to stop falling he inadvertently took his left hand, which had been resting on the machine, and stuck it in the chute. The blade struck his middle finger, amputating the tip. He was taken by car to North Hollywood Medical Center Hospital for treatment.