Abstract: At approximately 10:00 a.m. on March 10, 1997, Employee #1 and five coworkers, of Cal Trans, were trimming bushes on the side of a freeway near an exit ramp. Their assigned tasks included shredding of cut branches in a chipper. One branch was too big to fit in the chipper and had to be cut into smaller pieces first. To accomplish this, Employee #1 held the branch while a coworker tried to cut it with a chain saw. The chain saw kicked back and jumped, striking Employee #1's right hand. She sustained a laceration across the palm of her right hand and was treated at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, CA.