Abstract: At 4:30 p.m. on June 23, 2007, Employee #1, a machine operator and laborer, had his right thumb amputated while operating a spiral machine. The employer is a steel fabricator that manufactures cold finished steel bars from purchased hot-rolled steel for use in highways and bridge construction. Employee #1 was running smooth steel wire (#8 gauge wire, i.e. 0.27 inch diameter) through the unguarded vertical guide rolls of the spiral machine located at 60.5 inches above the floor, to bend it into a spiral shape to be used in the construction of columns. During running, he was guiding the tail end of the wire spool by holding it in his gloved hands. His right hand got pulled into the moving rolls along with the wire, causing the amputation of his thumb. Employee #1 was taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center. Surgery was performed and Employee #1 was discharged at 11:00 p.m. the same day.