OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14391312

HEAD,WORK RULES,EQUIPMENT OPERATOR,LOAD SHIFT,INDUSTRIAL TRUCK,PALLET,STRUCK BY,FALLING OBJECT,UNSTABLE LOAD

1988-01-17T15:30:00

Event: HEAD,WORK RULES,EQUIPMENT OPERATOR,LOAD SHIFT,INDUSTRIAL TRUCK,PALLET,STRUCK BY,FALLING OBJECT,UNSTABLE LOAD
Linked inspection: No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number: 14391312
Report ID: 625700

Event description

EMPLOYEE KILLED WHEN KNOCKED AGAINST GUARDRAIL BY LIFT LOAD

Investigation abstract

AT APPROXIMATELY 3:30 PM ON JANUARY 17, 1988, EMPLOYEE #1, A FORKLIFT OPERATOR, IF HE COULD ASSIST. EMPLOYEE #1 GOT OFF THE FORKLIFT AND TRIED TO BRACE THE LOA D WITH HIS HANDS OVER HIS SHOULDERS PUSHING AGAINST THE LOAD. THE ASSISTING OPER ATOR MOVED THE CONTROLS OF THE FORKLIFT. AS SOON AS THE FORKS WERE RAISED, THE L OAD TIPPED OVER ONTO EMPLOYEE #1. HE FELL BACKWARD AND WAS KILLED WHEN HIS HEAD STRUCK AGAINST A GUARDRAIL. WAS TRYING TO MOVE A PALLET FULL OF BUNDLED SKIDS. THE LOAD WEIGHED ABOUT 2,600 POUNDS. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS USING AN 8,000 POUND CAPACITY HYSTER FORKLIFT, SERIAL NU MBER C004DC3452Y. HE INTENDED TO PLACE THE PALLET ON A PALLET STAND IN THE BAKED ANODE STORAGE STRAPPING AREA. THE PALLET STAND WAS 37 INCHES OFF THE FLOOR AND HAD LOOSE SKIDS SITTING ON TOP OF IT. HE ATTEMPTED SEVERAL TIMES, UNSUCCESSFULLY , TO PLACE THE LOAD. THE MORE ATTEMPTS WERE MADE TO PLACE THE LOAD, THE MORE OFF CENTER THE LOAD SHIFTED. THE LOAD SHIFTED TO THE POINT OF ALMOST TIPPING OVER. ANOTHER FORKLIFT OPERATOR WHO HAD BEEN OBSERVING THE OPERATION ASKED EMPLOYEE #1

Victim

#1 Fatality Age 58 M

Nature of injury
7

Part of body
13

Event type
1

Source
27

Occupation code
999

Human factor
1

Environmental factor
6

Task assigned
1

Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.