Abstract: On August 24, 2005, an employee was cutting notches in an 8-foot-long, 2- by 6-nch board made of Douglas Fir pine wood using a hand-held electric circular saw. He was wearing a T-shirt. The bottom of the shirt was outside his trousers. The saw ran into a knot in the pine wood and bucked backward toward the employee. The blade of the saw became entangled in the tail of the employee's shirt before the guard could respond to protect the blade. The blade struck the employee on his abdomen causing a laceration. He was treated at a local hospital for a laceration on his abdomen. The wound was sutured, and he was released from the hospital on the day of the incident. The tool had been in service for 8 to 10 months at the time of the incident. No visible signs of operational or mechanical defects were evident upon inspection. The guard was functioning properly and was not impeded at the time of the incident.