Van Rensselear Management Inc.

An employee and a coworker were securing a forklift to a trailer for transport using chains and ratchet binders. The machine was chained in all four corners and the last place to secure was the forklift mast. The forks were in the up position to allow the truck ramps to be folded. The coworker climbed into the forklift and lowered the forks. The employee had been adjusting the position of the tie-down block on the trailer deck and was unaware that the forks were being lowered. The employee's left hand became pinched between the block and the fork, breaking the middle and ring fingers.