Abstract: At approximately 1:40 a.m. on September 21, 2002, Employee #1, a sanitation worker employed by Ultimate Staffing Services, was washing a conveyor belt at the Pacific Cheese facility located in, Hayward, CA. The belt is used to convey blocks of cheese from a sanitary area behind the loading dock, through a wall, and into the main processing plant. At the end of the second shift, third shift sanitation workers remove debris and shards of cheese from the belt and the area around the belt, then clean it with water and sanitizing materials. Employee #1 was washing the belt with a water hose in his left hand and paper towels in his right. The conveyor belt was on his right side and was running so that all of it could be accessed from outside the processing area. His right foot slipped on the wet floor and he started to fall. Employee #1 tried to grab onto to something with his right hand to break his fall. His right hand went between the top and bottom belts of the conveyor and into the unguarded drive pulley. The pressure between the drive pulley and the belt caused an avulsion wound to the dorsum of his right hand, forearm and right, middle and ring fingers. Employee #1 was taken by ambulance to St. Rose Hospital where he was treated for an avulsion of the back of his right hand and forearm and released.