Abstract: At 1:30 p.m. on August 21, 2000, an accident occurred at the scrap metal reclamation yard of Sun-Lite Metal. Sun-Lite Metal sorts out scrap metal, cuts it into various sizes, and sells it to foundries. Employee #1 was a truck driver and at times also a metal sorter. At the time of the accident, Employee #1 was helping to lift up a piece of metal about 3-foot by 4-foot, weighing about 3000 pounds, to be loaded onto a truck for delivery to a customer. The metal was lying flat on the ground in the south end of the yard. In order for the metal to be lifted up fully, one side of the piece had to be raised up first to about 6-inches from the ground with one prong of the fork lift. At this point a small piece of metal, to serve as a wedge, had to be inserted between the metal and the ground so the forks could slide between the ground and the metal. As the metal was being lifted up to about 6-inches from the ground with a fork lift, Employee #1 inserted the small wedge piece of metal in between the ground and the metal to be loaded onto the truck. During the process of inserting the small wedge piece of metal, the load slipped off the fork and fell, smashing the top right middle finger of Employee #1. After investigation, it was found that the heavy piece of metal being lifted had not been secured against dangerous displacement. Employee #1 was taken to St Francis Medical Center where he was released the same day. On the following day, August 22, 2000, surgery was performed to amputate Employee #1's right middle fingertip at the clinic of Dr. Dwight Roberson.