Abstract: Employee #1, a landscaping foreman, who had worked for the company for about six months, was assigned to seed and straw the lot at a newly built residence since there was no landscaping work to be done. A bale of straw is loaded into the 30.5-in.-deep tub on the top of the blower. Blades/knives in the bottom of the tub then shred the straw, which moves horizontally to a blower area. The blower station contains a fan and paddles or blades that move the shredded straw to the blower outlet area. A long flexible hose attaches at the blower outlet and the employee holds the hose to distribute the straw across the lawn. The unit is gas powered, but has a pull start like a lawn mower. It became clogged almost immediately and straw was not blowing from the outlet. Employee #1 removed the hose from the outlet and saw a string, probably from the bale, hanging out. Employee #1 reached up to release what he thought was a "shift" lever and thought that the shredder blades and the paddles had been disengaged. When Employee #1 reached for the string, it became wound around his fingers/hand and pulled him into the paddles through the blower outlet. Employee #1 suffered the amputation of four fingers. The lever Employee #1 released did not affect the rotation the blades or blower unit because the blower was a direct drive unit once it was started. The lever simply raised or lowered the blades in the barrel. The employee was not familiar with or in the use of the blower. Employee #1 was hospitalized.