Abstract: On November 1, 2005, Employee #1 was operating a Lester Company cold-chamber die casting machine, Serial Number 1013, during production. He had been employed with the company for about one month and did not have previous experience working around die casting machinery. The machine is operated by a worker pouring molten aluminum into a shot sleeve that would be injected in a die. The die halves were normally guarded by a sliding barrier gate that was interlocked into the machine's operation by a switch. The machine's piston was exhibiting problems that included binding and sticking, requiring Employee #1 to hold the machine's interlock switch open with the right hand, while manipulating the die, its product, and a pair of tongs with his left hand. As Employee #1 was pouring the molten aluminum into the machine, the die closed and caught three of his fingers on his left hand. He was not bale to move his hand out of the way of the closing die, resulting in the amputation of his fingers. Employee #1 was hospitalized and treated for his injury. An accident investigation was performed, requiring the work location to be examined. I was determined that the employer was in violation of several general and serious violations to include: not having an injury and illness prevention program in place; failing to report the injury to Cal/OSHA within the required eight hours; overhead cranes in use were not certified; no rest guards were present on the bench grinder; an inadequate hazardous energy control program; the guard on the die casting machine was improperly adjusted; the tongue guards on the bench grinder were inadequately adjusted; there were missing and inadequate guardrails in elevated work areas; and arc welding equipment was not effectively grounded.