Abstract
A 39-year old male truck driver (victim) died after being crushed between a forklift and a flat-bed trailer. The victim was exchanging a repaired forklift for a loaner forklift. He had driven the loaner to where his tractor/trailer rig was parked. He had removed the blades of the loaner forklift and placed them under pallets on the trailer. The victim was in the process of straightening the pallets when the forklift rolled forward across a sidewalk and partially over a curb with the mast pinning the victim against the side of the trailer. The forklift parking brake had not been set nor had the wheels been chocked. The company had no formal forklift inspection program. The CA/FACE investigator concluded that, in order to prevent future occurrences, employers should: 1. Ensure that forklift operators, when dismounting, always set the parking brake, lower the forks/mast, and neutralize the controls when the forklift is attended (i.e. running forklift within 25 feet and in view of the operator). 2. Develop and implement an inspection, reporting, and out-of-service program so operators can document the safety of their forklifts at least once a shift, report any unsafe conditions, and remove the forklift from service for repairs if unsafe. 3. Disallow the practice of operators standing between the forklift pointed in a direction of travel and fixed objects when the forklift is on a slope. 4. Enforce the company's forklift operating rules.
Keywords
Region-9; Accident-analysis; Accident-prevention; Accidents; Injuries; Injury-prevention; Traumatic-injuries; Work-operations; Work-analysis; Work-areas; Work-performance; Work-practices; Safety-education; Safety-equipment; Safety-measures; Safety-monitoring; Protective-measures; Protective-equipment; Equipment-operators; Drivers; Truck-drivers; Safety-programs; Occupational-safety-programs
