Abstract: Employee #1 and a coworker were using a sawmill equipped with a 56 in. head saw to cut poplar and white oak timber for lumber. The coworker had paused temporarily to measure the thickness of a cut, placing the carriage on "SAFE." Employee #1 was at his work station at the carriage lever, on a platform 4 ft above ground level. The saw blade, which was running at 550 rpm, was not stopped. When the coworker left the operation to measure the cut he did not realize that Employee #1 had also left the carriage platform. The coworker was alarmed by a sound from the direction of the saw. When he turned to look, he saw that Employee #1 had been cut in half almost vertically by the saw blade and killed.