Supervisor at Used Clothing Processing Facility and Warehouse Dies When Struck by Falling Clothing Bales, Washington

Washington Case Report: 18WA054
Release Date: December 10, 2018
The following report is the product of our Cooperative State partner and is presented here in its original unedited form from the state. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the individual Cooperative State partner and do not necessarily reflect the views or policy of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

SUMMARY

On January 4, 2011, a 63-year-old supervisor at a donated used clothing processing facility and warehouse died when she was struck by falling bales of used clothing.

On the day of the incident, a forklift operator was unloading bales of used clothing from a semi-trailer truck parked at a warehouse loading dock. After unloading the bales from the truck, he proceeded to move them to a storage area where he stacked them against a wall beside other stacks of bales.

The area where the forklift operator was stacking the bales was next to a door leading to the company’s shoe department. Clothing bales were stacked on both sides of the door. The employees who worked in this room regularly used this door to access the warehouse. The victim, who was the shoe department manager, was walking toward the door after returning from a break. The new bales were stacked six high and had only been in place for a few minutes. As she approached the stack, the forklift operator noticed that the bales had started to move. He called to her “look out!” As she turned to look toward the forklift operator, four bales fell from the top of the stack. One bale hit the lower part of her body, knocking her to the ground, and then a second bale landed on her upper body. The bales weighed from 500 to 780 pounds and measured approximately 48 inches by 60 inches by 33 inches.
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