An employee was removing wooden 2-by-4 deck boards from a bulkhead flat railcar. He was using an overhead crane and lifting device to pull the boards up from the securement bolts. He was near the end of the railcar, removing the final groups of boards. The overhead crane's steel lifting device caught a 1/2-inch steel body bolster plate under the wood; as the crane began to lift, the lifting device slipped off the plate and flew into the air. It struck the employee in the face and right arm, causing non-displaced facial fractures and lacerations to the lip and gum line and a bruised right upper arm.