Worker Falls to His Death in a Telescoping Boom Forklift Overturn

Details

• Personal Author:
  Johnson, Wayne ; Rautiainen, Risto
• Corporate Authors:
  Iowa Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Program (Iowa FACE) ; University of Iowa. College of Public Health. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Description:
  During the summer of 2003, a 19-year-old construction worker died after falling 30 ft. (9 m) from the forks of a telescoping boom forklift. He was member of a five-man crew hired by a local greenhouse company to dismantle and relocate a large old barn. The company owner rented the forklift from a local rental service, where he received training in the basic operations of the machine. The owner's adult son was operating the forklift at the time of the incident. It was positioned partially on a driveway on the west side of the barn. The right wheels were on the driveway ramp and the left wheels were at a lower elevation on grass. The frame leveling control was set at its maximum position (12 degrees) to compensate for the sloping ground. The crew was removing the second rafter section that morning, taking apart joints and lowering sections to the ground. The victim was on the ground and rode up on the forks of the forklift, attaching the rafter to the forks with nylon straps, one strap to each fork. The operator then raised the rafter section up off the barn, with the victim standing on the forks, riding down with the load. At the top of this movement, the rafter piece and the machine suddenly shifted to the left. The machine fell over on its left side
  
  the rafter crashed to the ground
  
  and the victim jumped or fell to a grassy area on the ground. Emergency rescue was immediately called, and quickly transported the victim to a local hospital, but the man was dead on arrival due to severe internal bleeding. The operator of the forklift received minor injuries. Recommendations based on our investigation are as follows: 1. A telescoping boom forklift should not be used on an incline which exceeds the limits of the frame leveling system. 2. If a telescoping forklift truck is used to lift people, both the personnel platform and working procedures should comply with ASME standards (ASME B56.6-1992). 3. Employees should be adequately trained before operating lifting and hoisting equipment. 4. Employers must provide fall protection for employees working 6 ft. (1.8 m) or more above the lower level.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Construction Industry Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Construction Construction-equipment Construction-industry Construction-workers Demolition-industry Equipment-design Equipment-operators Equipment-reliability Injuries Injury-prevention Mechanics OSHA Region 7 Personal-protective-equipment Protective-equipment Protective-measures Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Training Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Construction ; Falls ; Machine (All) ; Machine - Construction
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE03IA043
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Iowa ; OSHA Region 7
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  7 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20028353
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2006-111421
• 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 03IA043, 2004 Aug ; :1-77
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• Performing Organization:
  Iowa Department of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1992/09/30
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3ff894cca087d50402f27b0f0f3f561fa0667e9f4dcab059d543e324ebbace28c7afa61fbac1fc6e220efd5b3548d7542ecba0a999cf38d4009f52a34b9c6520
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166765/cdc_166765_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 552.25 KB ]