School Shop Injury Report: In 2015, a 9th grade student enrolled in a Marine Technology program in a Chapter 74 approved public regional technical high school education program sustained a partial thumb tip amputation injury. The student was operating a combination belt and disc sander in shop class when the students gloved right hand thumb came in contact with the rotating disc sander. The glove and the students thumb were partially pulled into the machine. Immediately after the incident occurred, a junior who was supervising the freshman student immediately turned off the machine and started to disassemble the machine to free the student. The student was brought to the school nurse who placed a call for emergency medical services (EMS). The local police and EMS arrived at the incident location within minutes. The injured student was transported to a hospital in another state where the partially amputated thumb tip was reattached with 12 stitches and the injured student was then released from the hospital. Contributing factors identified in this investigation included, greater than 1/16 of an inch space between the sanding table and disc, wearing gloves while operating the sander, not being fully trained on the sander prior to use and inexperience. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health concluded that to prevent similar occurrences in the future, schools with shop classes should: 1. Ensure that students are not wearing gloves when operating machinery with accessible rotating or moving parts

2. Ensure that the space between a disc sanders sanding table and sanding disc is not greater than 1/16 of an inch when being used

3. Ensure students have a clear understanding of the task they will be performing and prohibit any machine operation before being fully trained

and 4. Develop comprehensive safety and health plans, as required by Massachusetts regulations, to protect both students and school staff by ensuring that schools are providing conditions that, at a minimum, meet occupational safety and health standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).