Abstract: On June 27, 2007, Employee #1 was operating a custom built Erie punch press. A 500 pound spool of 8-in. by .0032-in. thick stainless steel lying horizontally is auto fed into a horizontal 500 ton punch press. The inbound side of the punch press has a door gate which has an attached interlock device. The door cannot be moved without taking out the key. The outbound side had a door gate as well with a 5-in. by 17-in. long cutout for the material to pass through. The panel switches were located approximately 2 ft from the operator. As the dies cut the material, Employee #1 grabs the leftover metal pieces and throws them in a garbage can. The cutout pieces fall into a makeshift chute that fits inside the gate door cutout. There is a ten second delay between cycles. One of the pieces became stuck in the die and Employee #1 reached in through the chute and attempted to dislodge the part. He had available a long rod for dislodging parts but failed to use it. Employee #1 suffered an amputation of four fingers in right hand when the press cycled.