Abstract: At approximately 1:00 p.m. on December 1, 2000, Employee #1, a drying supervisor, was working at a rice drying facility owned by Harter Land Company. The employee was operating the Handlair 3000 pneumatic rice conveyor machine, which pulls rice from the dryer and blows it through pipes into a storage tank. During this process, the rice was not blowing properly. Employee #1 shut off the power take-off, but did not shut off the hydraulics that power the mechanical parts and blades inside of the vacuum chamber. When the employee placed his hand inside the vacuum chamber to try to unclog or unjam the machine, he amputated the first digit of his middle finger and the tip (skin only) of his index finger.