Abstract: At approximately 9:42 a.m. on April 3, 2003, Employee #1, a 38-year old Plant Operator, employed by Vulcan Materials, Company, was cleaning a chute at the tail pulley section of a drag slat at an asphalt mixing plant in Pleasanton, California. The chute was where the asphalt was discharged from a dryer and conveyed by the inclined drag slat to the silos. It had a 30-in. by 15-in. triangular trap door through which the inside of the chute was cleaned. A 46-in. paddle-shaped scraper made of a metal rod with a 5-in. by 6-in. metal sheet at one end was used for cleaning. While Employee #1 was cleaning the chute, the scraper got caught between the frame of the chute and the moving slat chain which caused the scraper handle to hit Employee #1 on the right side of his face. He was moved to Valley Care Hospital in Pleasanton, California where he was treated at the emergency room and released on the same day. He sustained a non-serious fracture of the right maxilla.