Abstract: Employee #1, a maintenance worker for Aqua Pool and Spa, was repairing the fitting on a bandsaw used to cut up pallets for the subsidiary company of Ripon Pallets in Ceres. This piece of equipment had been in service for 10 months at this location and the maintenance person had performed this particular task three times prior. Employee #1 had been working alone for about an hour. The saw was in the off position. It is not known if the fuse had been pulled or the power locked out. The new bearing and fitting was in place. Workers for Ripon Pallet heard the saw kick on and heard a strange sound. It then continued to run normally. One employee near the scene heard the saw go on and turned around to see the saw blade fly off, but did not see the maintenance worker. He went over to the saw and found Employee #1 lying on the ground. Employee #1 had a mark across the side of his head, stretching from his eye to above his ear on the left side. A 2-inch by 4-inch board was lying near him on the ground. The Ripon Pallet employee turned off the saw. Without any actual witnesses, it was speculated that Employee #1 was struck in the head by the board. The board displayed markings that matched the flywheel on the saw. It is unknown if Employee #1 meant to start the saw or if a tool in his front pocket struck the start button by accident. Employee #1 died of cranial cerebral injuries on March 8, 2001, two days after the accident.