Forklift Operator Dies When Crushed between Forklift Overhead Guard and Mast

Details

• Personal Author:
  Clark, Randy ; Rappin, Christina ; Schoonover, Todd ; Clark, Randy ; Rappin, Christina ; Schoonover, Todd
• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (WA FACE) ; Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries ; Washington (State). Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention ; Washington (State). Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (WA FACE) ; Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries ; Washington (State). Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention
• Description:
  In May of 2012, a 61-year-old longshore worker operating a forklift died when he was crushed between a forklift's mast and the operator's cab overhead guard. The incident occurred when he left the forklift operator's seat and climbed over the operator's console and stood on the dash between the mast and the overhead guard so that he could presumably look into a bin elevated on the forklift's forks. He did not turn off the forklift engine. As he was standing on the dash, his right foot moved backward and contacted the mast tilt control lever on the console. This caused the mast to tilt back, crushing his torso between the mast cross member and the overhead guard. Workers arrived and helped him down from the forklift and administered first aid. Fire department paramedics arrived in less than seven minutes. He was taken to a hospital where he died in the emergency room. RECOMMENDATIONS: To prevent similar occurrences in the future, Washington State Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) investigators concluded that to protect employees from the hazard of being crushed between a forklift's mast and operator's cab overhead guard employers should follow these guidelines: 1. Ensure that forklift operators never position themselves between the forklift operator's cab overhead guard and mast while the forklift is running. 2. Ensure that standard operating procedures (SOP) are followed during forklift operation and review these procedures to ensure that they are effective in practice and revise if necessary. 3. Ensure that operators do not use alcohol prior to or while operating equipment. 4. Consider purchasing or equipping forklifts with an operator safety interlock device such as an Operator Presence Sensing System (OPSS) that prevents movement of the forklift, and its mast and forks when the operator is not seated properly at the controls.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Men Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Humans Injuries Injury-prevention Machine-operation Machine-operators OSHA Region 10 Safety-measures Safety-practices Training Traumatic-injuries Work-areas Workers

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Machine (All) ; Machine - General ; Prevention through Design (PtD) ; FACE ; Machine (All) ; Machine - General ; Prevention through Design (PtD)
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)   ; Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)  
• Subseries:
  State ; State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE12WA015
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Washington ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-14
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051261
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2018-101061
• Citation:
  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 12WA015, 2018 Jan ; :1-14
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  48-49 - Transportation and Warehousing - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2005/07/01
• End Date:
  2021/06/30
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:963edd6c86b30170a51e96e4605b5d697125df8d802ca81f76e482d4bc68b36a29f881b241d18f28cf80614baab327a73c01f3e2730f0b90a1c4d0a9acbca8d2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/164982/cdc_164982_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.27 MB ]