Abstract: At about 11:45 a.m. on August 15, 2005, Employee #1 was working as a lumper or swamper, who is someone who loads or unloads containers or trucks in warehouses. He had been doing this for approximately six weeks with no prior experience in the trade. He was working for the City Staff employment agency. Employee #1 was assigned to work at the St. George Warehouse, a transportation and warehousing company with over 259,000 square feet of floor space. In addition to his unloading duties, he was assigned to follow the forklift operators and assist them by replacing any boxes or packages that fell off the pallet as it was en route to its designated area in the warehouse. One of the forklift operators had just removed a pallet from a container at dock Number 73, and Employee #1 followed the forklift operator to area L-1. The forklift operator placed the pallet in its designated location and told Employee #1 that he was going to the bathroom and would be right back. While the operator of the forklift was gone, Employee #1 decided he would try operating the forklift truck, a TCM with a 4,000-lb maximum load. It was at this time that the accident occurred. Employee #1 had never been trained in the operation of the forklift, had no prior experience in the use of an industrial forklift truck, and, most important, was instructed never to operate the forklift. He nonetheless decided to attempt to operate the forklift. Employee #1 was trying to back out with a pallet that was in between two rows of pallets. It was four pallets deep, and two pallets high. Employee #1 gripped the right rear post of the operator's canopy guard with his right hand and then proceeded to back up the forklift. At this point he lost control of the truck and ran into another row of pallets, pinching the tip of his right index finger between the canopy post and the row of pallets. The index finger on his right hand was amputated to approximately the midpoint of his fingernail. Neither the fire department nor the paramedics were called. Instead, a City Staff agency worker drove Employee #1 to the Western Hand and Orthopedics Center. Employee #1 was stabilized and transported to California Hospital. He was admitted on the same day of the accident, and released three days later. After the accident, the forklift's regular operator performed his daily routine inspection of the forklift truck that was involved in the accident. He checked the horn, the brakes, and the tires, and he looked for cracks in the forks. He also looked for fluid leakage and checked the tilt mechanism. The conclusion was that the forklift's operational condition was not a factor in the accident. Employee #1 was a hired as a lumper/swamper. He had worked approximately one month in that position. He was trying to perform the duties of the forklift operator without authorization, training, or previous experience. Employee #1 made the decision to attempt to operate the industrial forklift without any authorization or training from his supervisors.