Abstract: On July 19, 2006, Employee #1 was working as a composite fabricator for Scaled Composite, LLC, in Mojave, CA. He was placing blocks under a 5,000-pound mold, with dimensions of 25 feet by 10 feet, to support it as it was being raised. A coworker, operating a forklift, reported placing the blocks on the forks behind the lift's wheels and pushing a pallet jack in to align the block on the mold's middle line to the 2-inch by 2-inch frame of the mold. The 5.5-ton-rated hydraulic pallet jack dislodged while one end of the composite mold was being elevated approximately 8 inches higher than the other end. Employee #1 sustained the amputation of the thumb on his left hand at the distal phalanx. He was hospitalized. Information obtained from employee interviews and a physical examination indicates that the pallet jack dislodged as a result of the load's placement on the forks just forward of the lifting wheels. Two high-density foam blocks placed on the forks to contact the mold frame had asymmetric indentions in the shape of the fork ends, indicating the blocks rolled off the end of the forks. It was found the blocks could contact the lift wheels that protrude above the top surface of the forks. The blocks were displaced forward on the forks when the jack was moved forward. Lack of employee training for pallet jack operation and failure to notice the forward movement of the blocks were determined to be the casual and contributing factors in this incident.