Crime & Safety
Bay Area Sheet Metal Company Given Preliminary Fine After Worker Loses Finger
Cal/OSHA Chief Debra Lee said the employee's injury was "entirely preventable."
SAN JOSE, CA — Inspectors with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, Cal/OSHA, proposed issuing a $212,000 fine to a San Jose sheet metal supplier following an workplace injury that required amputating an employee's finger.
All Fab Precision Sheetmetal Inc. was issued the preliminary fine after Cal/OSHA inspectors said they found three violations related to the operation of a press brake that didn't have a required safety guard.
In June 2025, an employee working the press brake, which is a machine used to bend sheet metal, got their finger caught in the machine, which was allegedly being operated without a safety guard at the time, according to a news release from Cal/OSHA on Thursday.
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A similar incident in 2024 already brought the issue to the company's attention and resulted in a fine of more than $43,000.
A phone call to All Fab Precision Sheetmetal Inc. on Sunday seeking comment went unanswered, but the company is appealing the fine in accordance with the Cal/OSHA process, which gives companies 15 days to appeal a fine.
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Cal/OSHA's fine cited three levels of violation, including one willful regulatory violation, one serious accident-related violation, and one willful repeat serious accident-related violation.
Cal/OSHA Chief Debra Lee said the employee's injury was "entirely preventable."
"Safety guards must be in place for a reason," Lee said in a statement. "Bypassing these protections can result in workers being seriously injured or killed. What makes this case especially troubling is that the employer was already aware of the hazard. A nearly identical accident had occurred just twelve months earlier," she said.
Cal/OSHA's Bureau of Investigations was continuing to investigate the violations as of Sunday.
The statement from Cal/OSHA, which is part of the California Department of Industrial Relations, reminded employers that workplace safety laws apply to workers regardless of immigration status.
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