Abstract: On May 8, 2008, Employee #1, and several coworkers were present in the area immediately before the accident. A coworker communicated with Employee #1 and his coworkers during the lift of the spacecraft Echostar II for a fit test. In this process, Employee #1's finger was caught between the side beam and the cradle after the sling landed. Employee #1 had placed his hand on the bottom of the side beam instead of putting it on the top. Though Employee #1 used hand gloves, the pinch point resulted in injury. Employee #1 was taken to St. Mary's hospital, Long Beach for 2 hours and then to Kaiser Permanante, Union City hospital, for 24 hours. Employee #1 needed surgery on June 6, 2008, which would result in bone loss to the injured finger. The accident occurred in the Sea Launch facility at Long Beach where satellites and rockets are assembled and loaded in the nearby ship for launching from near the equator. The weight of the lifting apparatus is 3600 lbs without the lifting sling assembly. It was determined through the investigaton, the test conductor had failed to give the go ahead signal to the crane operator, and that Employee #1 was not well trained in the operation he was doing.