Abstract: At about 8:00 a.m. on June 13, 1998, Employee #1 was assigned by his foreman to use the XL Ripper (a multi blade industrial wood saw). Employee #1 had begun working for the company 17 days earlier and to that point had not received any identifiable training (lockout/tagout and any comprehensive hands-on instruction pertaining to the safe operation of the assigned machine). According to Employee #1, the foreman had asked him if he knew how to operate the machine, he replied "no". However, the foreman assigned him to use it anyway. Employee #1 was assigned to work with a coworker, the primary machine operator, who was feeding wood into the machine. While working, a piece of wood became jammed. The primary operator tried to remove the jam, but he did not turn off the machine. Employee #1 then opened up the sawdust vacuum system to attempt to clean it out the sawdust and bits of wood which had become clogged. He reached in about 17-18 inches and made contact with the rotating blades. He sustained an immediate loss of four fingers (excluding his thumb) of his left hand. Employee #1 was hospitalized for his injuries.