Abstract: At about 8:45 p.m. on July 1, 2005 Employee #1, a forklift operator/materials handler in the cores department at MPA Motor Parts of America in Torrance, CA, a rebuilder of used alternators and starters, was attempting to refasten the door latch and close the door of the bottom basket in a stack after filling it with alternator cores, by using a straight metal bar to pry it shut instead of the approved method of removing the basket to the main aisle with his forklift and then filling and closing the basket. The bottom basket latch would not close in place in the stack due to deformation from the weight of baskets above it. In his exertion to close the bottom basket, Employee #1 caused the baskets above to slip off their modular footing. His left hand was resting near one of these upper baskets, and as the basket shifted it amputated his left index finger to the second digit. In addition, the bottom basket spilled open, spilling alternator cores onto him, causing minor lacerations and bruising. Employee #1 was taken by paramedics to County UCLA Harbor General Hospital, where he was hospitalized. The finger could not be saved.