Abstract: On February 22, 2005, Employee #1 was working as a machine operator running a horizontal single ram baling machine. He had been employed as a baler operator for a little more than five months. A problem developed with some wire down in the machine. Employee #1 asked an unspecified eyewitness to hand him a knife and some pliers once he had climbed down into the baler. Employee #1 pushed the baler's stop button, but he did not deenergize the machine or lock out the power source. He climbed up the bale chamber end of the baler and down into the hopper, and the witness handed him the tools. When the jam was cleared, Employee #1 handed the tools back to the witness and began climb up the feed hopper. He was facing away from the ram as he started to climb, but he slipped back down to the floor of the hopper. Putting one foot on one side of the machine and the other foot on the other side, he pushed up with his hands. Employee #1 reached a level where he interrupted the beam of the electronic sensor and activated the ram, which began to advance. In roughly five seconds, the ram crossed the hopper chamber. With a force of about 215,000 pounds, the ram struck Employee #1 in the back at waist level. It drove the lower portion of his torso into the bale chamber, while the upper part of his body remained in the hopper. Employee #1 was killed, his body nearly severed in half.