Abstract: At approximately 12:10 p.m. on August 17, 2002, Employee #1, a truck mechanic and foreman, and a coworker were replacing the right third-axle tire of a Volvo three-axle front-loading collection truck, Number 262635. The coworker noticed that the cushion pad, an 8-inch by 6-inch circular, hard rubber component of the leaf spring suspension system, was broken. He took out the old cushion pad and began to replace it with a new one. The coworker bolted the bottom metal flange of the cushion pad to the axle and, with the help of Employee #1, began to align the top bolts to the leaf spring. The leaf spring was held up with a jack stand and the center bushing, where the leaf springs of the second and third axles met, was held up with a hydraulic floor jack. They raised the floor jack and removed the jack stand that was holding up the leaf spring so the coworker could begin to align the top bolts. Employee #1 told the coworker when the leaf spring and the top flange of the cushion were in the proper position. Employee #1 was beginning to put a nut on the rear bolt of the cushion pad when the leaf spring suddenly fell on his right index finger, amputating it at the second knuckle. He was hospitalized with his injury.