Abstract: At approximately 11:30 a.m. on March 28, 1996, Employee #1, of Madrona Middle School, entered the snack room of the student store in Wing C. The heavy door, which was the only one in the room, had a hinge and a latch at the bottom. The latch was to keep the door open and the hinge closed the door once it was unlatched. The very high tension of the hinge caused the door to slam against the door frame while it was closing. After finishing her work in the room, Employee #1 released the latch and was coming out through the door, swinging her right hand and holding some items in her left hand. As the door slammed against the frame, her right index finger became caught and was amputated. The accident occurred because the door hinge was defective and had extraordinary tension for closing.