Forklift crushes operator working underneath on starter

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Oregon Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Program) (OR-FACE) ; Oregon Health & Science University. Oregon Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology (CROET)
• Description:
  On June 4, 2004, a 47-year-old co-owner of a recycling business was run over and killed by a Gradall telescopic boom lift (rough-terrain forklift) while he was working underneath it. He had been operating the Gradall, and had shut it down when he momentarily exited the vehicle. When he returned to the machine, he found it would not restart. The Gradall had a safety interlock that prevented starting from the ignition switch while in gear. The contractor was apparently unaware of this safety feature. He checked the batteries, and then crawled underneath the cab area and reached up into the engine compartment with a screwdriver. The screwdriver made contact between the two terminals on the starter, effectively jump-starting the engine and bypassing the safety mechanism that prevented ignition while in gear. The Gradall started and moved forward. The parking brake was not set. The back left tire rolled over the contractor. Recommendations: 1. Powered industrial forklifts should only be operated by knowledgeable and experienced individuals certified by the employer, with proficiency demonstrated through operator training. 2. Before exiting any powered industrial truck, even briefly, completely shut down power, place controls in neutral and apply parking brake. 3. Do not start equipment by overriding safety features.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Occupational Health Safety Safety Management
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Equipment-operators Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 10 Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-operations Work-practices

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Construction ; Machine (All) ; Machine - Construction ; Prevention through Design (PtD) ; Waste Management and Remediation Services
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE04OR010
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20028572
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2006-100697
• 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 04OR010, 2005 Sep ; :1-4
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• Performing Organization:
  Oregon Department of Human Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  56 - Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2002/09/01
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4e4eb1cce252ec8a425d43ac3ecc39e1b9b03ff88e04bda16c0cea695529e83c460e10c7c1cb7f5014f8ea2baf8167a8016822cb51ca06e3d41d8b2de66d7629
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166545/cdc_166545_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 149.05 KB ]