UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee #1, a tractor-trailer truck driver, was delivering and unloading a sheet piles from a flatbed trailer. The sheet pile was being removed using the bucket of an excavator wire rope, sling, and sling hook. Employee #1 had rigged the end of the sheet pile using the wire rope sling and sling hook, and unloaded a sheet pile from the trailer. While Employee #1 was unhooking the rigging from the sheet pile, the excavator operator, thought that Employee #1 had given him a hand signal indicating that the rigging was free of the load. The excavator operator believed it was safe to raise the excavator boom and rigging away from the sheet pile. However, Employee #1's hand was not free of the hook and the sheet pile, and as the rigging was being raised, his right hand was caught in between the hook and the sheet pile, and his right little finger was amputated to the first knuckle. Employee #1 was hospitalized. Apparently, both employees were following trade guidelines with respect to unloading of the sheet piles, however there was a miscommunication between the excavator operator and Employee #1.