Abstract: On December 11, 2008, Employee #1, a temporary employee, was clearing cardboard boxes that had become jammed in the hopper leading to the charging chamber of an industrial stationary compactor/baler (Balemaster, MO 02048, MB 0161-05). He accessed the charging chamber through an interlocked access door. The baler was not deenergized and the interlock was bypassed by wrapping a wire around it to render it inoperable. As Employee #1 was manipulating the jammed boxes, a heavy box dropped on his left arm, pushing it down between the ram and the frame of the chamber. His left hand was crushed between the cycling ram and the chamber's frame. He was hospitalized at Loma Linda University Medical Center for a hand amputation.