CALIFORNIA – The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) announced February 26 it issued $212,850 in penalties to All FAB Precision Sheetmetal, Inc., following a workplace amputation at its San Jose facility.
On June 5, 2025, a press brake used to bend sheet metal was operated without a required safety guard, amputating an employee’s finger when it became caught in the machine.
The employer was aware of the machine-guarding requirement after a similar June 2024 incident in which another employee lost a finger.
Cal/OSHA Chief Debra Lee said the most concerning aspect of the case is that the employer already knew about the hazard.
“This injury was entirely preventable,” Lee said.
Prior incident resulted in $43,500 citation
According to Cal/OSHA, machine-guarding failures are a leading cause of serious workplace injuries.
Unguarded moving machine parts pose serious risks, including amputations, crushing injuries, and other life-altering harm or death.
The investigation found one willful regulatory violation, one serious accident-related violation, and one willful repeat serious accident-related violation.
The case has been referred to Cal/OSHA’s Bureau of Investigations.
In the prior incident, Cal/OSHA issued $43,500 in serious citations to All FAB Precision Sheetmetal. Despite that enforcement action and clear regulatory requirements, the employer failed to fix the hazard.
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 announced February 26 it issued $212,850 in penalties to All FAB Precision Sheetmetal, Inc., following a workplace amputation at its San Jose facility.){kind=link}