Municipal Solid Waste Collector Dies after Falling from Solid Waste Vehicle Hopper Area

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Kentucky Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program (KY FACE) ; University of Kentucky. College of Public Health. Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center
• Description:
  On a spring day in 2010, a 41 year-old male, solid waste collector, was riding in the hopper area of a solid waste truck when he fell out and struck his head on the pavement. He was riding in the hopper area because the step he usually rode, located at the rear driver side, was broken. Another worker rode the rear step on the passenger side of the vehicle, and a third worker, the driver, drove. After approaching a stop, the driver looked into the rearview mirror and saw the decedent on the pavement. The driver stopped the truck, and he and the other solid waste collector tried to assist the decedent. There was no cell phone service in the area so the driver drove the truck four miles to a store, and called emergency medical services and his supervisor. Emergency medical services arrived at the scene and transported the worker to the nearest trauma hospital where he died six days later. To prevent future occurrences of similar incidents, the following recommendations have been made: Recommendation No. 1: Municipal solid waste divisions should require drivers to perform daily post-trip safety checks on solid waste collection vehicles and timely repairs should be performed. Recommendation No. 2: Municipal solid waste divisions should ensure that employees are never located on solid waste trucks' rear riding steps when the trucks are traveling faster than 10 miles per hour or traveling more than 0.2 mile. Recommendation No. 3: Municipal solid waste divisions should ensure that employees have access to a communication device that can be used during emergency situations. Recommendation No. 4: Municipal solid waste divisions should perform job hazard analyses. Recommendation No. 5: Municipal solid waste divisions should have a written worker safety program that includes safety training for employees. Recommendation No. 6: Municipal solid waste divisions should provide an alcohol/drug free workplace for employees. Recommendation No. 7: Municipal solid waste divisions should consider the feasibility of implementing automated processes for solid waste collection.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Staff Development Waste Management Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 4 Safety-education Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Safety-practices Safety-programs Training Traumatic-injuries Waste-disposal Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices Worker-motivation

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Motor Vehicles ; Waste Management and Remediation Services ; Motor Vehicles - Refuse Truck
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE10KY006
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20039660
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2012-100198
• 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 10KY006, 2011 Jan ; :1-9
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• Performing Organization:
  University of Kentucky
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  56 - Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2005/07/01
• End Date:
  2026/06/30
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:24ad70e43bc38bedfd0c3607249a6f2b84744caecc9924f42192f3d2022c698fd8b87dbe4691c1ffdd6e7d7aba92fddabf02f4bc0c7b6e80da951caba92bd7f9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/165235/cdc_165235_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 274.85 KB ]