Abstract: At approximately 5:15 p.m. on September 16, 1998, an employee of a rental yard company was injured while preparing to unload a 657 Scaper from the trailer. The employee stated that he was at the rear of the trailer and had raised the hydraulic tower to remove the wooden blocks that are used to stabilize the piece of equipment. The cuff of his glove became caught on the hydraulic release lever handle, which caused the tower to come down on his left hand. As a result, his finger was caught between the tower and the blocks and his left middle fingertip was amputated.The accident was reported to the Division on September 18, 1998. Therefore, the equipment and procedure could not be viewed since the job was completed and the equipment was back in the yard in Santa Ana. The company bolted a cover over the release lever to prevent this type of accident from occurring again. Employees wear gloves due to the nature of this work. The employer was issued a Regulatory Violation of 342(a) for failure to report an accident within eight hours. The employee has worked for this company for five years as a dispatcher and a relief driver. He has ten years prior experience as a driver.