Abstract: At about 3:37 p. m. on August 10, 2004, Employee #1, a bakery packer, pushed a floor fan to cool pound cakes so they could be packed. The fan was approximately 6-ft to 8-ft Industrial Commercial Lakewood, 5 ft 7 in. in height and 2 ft 8 in. in diameter. Employee #1 was positioned behind the fan with hands on the cage. The cage was made in two half-sections, a front and a back, and was held together by 6 screws, 2 of which were missing. One missing screw was in 2 o'clock position, and the second was in 8 o'clock position. The concentric steel rings on the cage were welded to the steel radials on the fan. The welds failed so maintenance used wire to hold the rings on the radials. When Employee #1 pushed the cage of the fan, the wire slipped leaving the 0.75-in. opening that allowed access to a 1.5 in. blade inside. Employee #1's right index finger was crushed, and the finger was later amputated at the Distal Interphalangeal Joint at the San Francisco General Hospital. Employee #1 was hospitalized.