An employee was unplugging raw material from a feed elevator when he asked another employee to turn on the elevator to make sure it was not plugged in. He saw sticks piling up at the bottom and went to pull them out. His hand was near the opening of the elevator when he lost his balance and one of the buckets caught his right hand. His right hand was then pulled inside the elevator, causing a laceration to the right middle finger. As a result, the bottom of his right middle fingertip was amputated and he shattered the tip of the bone on the same finger.