UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Abstract: At approximately 1:30 p.m. on August 12, 2011, Employee #1, with Broadway Sheet Metal (a manufacturer of metal hospital equipment), was operating a Wysong press brake (Model Number 55-8, Serial Number PB4-147) to bend steel sheets to form trash deflectors. Each sheet was approximately 4 in. wide and 20 in. long. Employee #1 stated that he was standing on the left side of the machine, facing the front. While bending a piece that was set on the bottom die, the piece fell towards the back of the machine. As he reached for the piece, the top ram lowered onto his left hand. A coworker took Employee #1 to a clinic and then to California Pacific Medical Center, where he was hospitalized for treatment, including surgery to reattach the fingers. Employee #1 stated that he was operating this machine with a foot control. Both that control and the point of operation were not guarded. Employee #1 does not remember if he pressed the foot pedal and inadvertently caused the incident. There were no witnesses. The employer claimed that Employee #1 was trained to do the job, but was unable to provide documentation. He did not speak or understand English and no written instructions were available in his language (Cantonese).