Abstract: At approximately 2:00 p.m. on December 1, 1999, Employee #1, a dispatcher working for USF Bestway sustained a serious injury at the USF Bestway Service Center, at the Loading Dock, located in Irwindale, California. Employee #1 was preparing to back his truck under a trailer. He went to the back of the trailer to close the trailer doors. In order to do that, he had to remove the hinged dock plate that formed a ramp between the dock and the trailer. Employee #1 was looking for the dock plate hook. A dock plate hook is a tool used to lift and move the dock plate safely. Since there was not tool available, Employee #1 placed his hand under the steel dock plate and lifted it up. While he was doing that, the hinged part swung back on the dock plate and his finger got caught between the dock section of the dock plate and the lifting attachment on the truck side of the dock plate. Employee #1 sustained an amputation to his middle finger and was hospitalized. Employee #1 stated that the dock plates he was familiar with at other facilities did not have the pinch point.