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Eighteen-year-old sporting goods retail store worker dies in a fall from a shelving unit - Pennsylvania.

Burkhart JE

Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 2001-06, 2001 Sep; :1-6

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/face/In-house/full200106.html

20021551

An 18-year-old male sporting-goods retail-store worker (the victim) died from a head injury after falling approximately 12 feet from the top of a shelving unit. When the incident happened, the victim was in the process of retrieving a large, heavy box from the top shelf of an H-frame shelving unit. A witness reported that as the victim leaned over and grasped the box by its nylon shipping bands, one of the bands broke and the victim fell backwards off the H-frame to the concrete floor. A registered nurse (RN) who was shopping in the store witnessed the incident, and rendered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to the victim. The store's manager called 911 and emergency rescue personnel and police arrived within minutes. The victim was life-flighted to a nearby trauma center where he died later that day from his injuries. NIOSH investigators concluded that, to prevent similar incidents, employers should: 1) ensure that only properly trained personnel operate hydraulic lifting equipment; 2) ensure that all workers utilize fall protection when working on top of the H-frame shelving units; 3) implement a spot inspection program to ensure that all employees are complying with safety requirements, and develop and enforce consequences for noncompliance; 4) evaluate their store's storage requirements, and their materials handling procedures.

Region-3; Accidents; Accident-prevention; Age-factors; Injuries; Injury-prevention; Occupational-accidents; Occupational-safety-programs; Safety-education; Safety-equipment; Safety-measures; Safety-monitoring; Safety-practices; Safety-programs; Traumatic-injuries

20010919

Field Studies; Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation

2001

PB2005-100574

A03

FACE-2001-06

DSR

NAICS-23

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

PA; WV

DSR