Abstract: At approximately 10:30 a.m. on March 23, 2005, Employee #1 was working as a regular fulltime employee for the drilling contractor Baja Exploration. He and a coworker, a driller's assistant, were using a truck-mounted, hollow-stem drill rig. Employee #1 was standing on the drilling platform, removing the last 10 feet of hollow-stem drilling auger from the boring when his coworker walked the base of the auger away from the drilling rig. When the auger attained a horizontal orientation, it rotated and fell from the hook that suspended the auger from the rig winch. The falling 10-ft section of auger struck Employee #1 in the arm, causing a laceration extending from his elbow, along the back of his forearm, down to his fingers. He was knocked from the drilling platform. Upon landing, he broke the little finger on his left hand. He was transported to the Yuma Regional Medical Center, where he underwent surgery to suture his deep laceration. His fractured finger was set too. He was hospitalized.