Auto salvage yard worker crushed while working under car-- Iowa

Details

• Personal Author:
  Johnson, Wayne ; Rautiainen, Risto
• Corporate Authors:
  Iowa Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Program (Iowa FACE) ; University of Iowa. College of Medicine. Institute for Rural and Environmental Health
• Description:
  A 27 year old mechanic working for an auto recycler was fatally injured while working under a wrecked car in an auto salvage lot. The man was removing a front wheel assembly while standing under the car which was supported by forks of a large 4-wheel drive rubber-tired forklift truck. The victim was assisted by a friend who was not employed by the salvage yard and was not adequately experienced with fork lift operation. The victim had removed lug nuts and the axle nut of the right wheel assembly and was standing under the front end of the automobile. He grabbed the undercarriage and swung his feet up to kick off the wheel. At this point the car began to tilt to the front. The assistant yelled to the victim, but it was too late, for the car rapidly slid forward and fell pinning the victim to the ground causing fatal head injuries. The back end of the car remained supported by the left fork. The assistant mounted the forklift and lowered the rear of the car, then radioed to other employees for help. He stated in an interview that he noticed a gap between the car and the right fork of the forklift, but didn't think anything of it and didn't mention this to the victim. The wrecked car was not secured by safety chains or other means to the forklift, and there was no supports to prevent the car from falling. The victim was killed instantly from head injuries. When emergency personnel arrived, they were instructed to immediately transport the body to the hospital in hopes of saving vital organs for donation. Recommendations following our investigation were as follows: 1. Auto mechanics should not work under cars when they are elevated and supported only by a forklift. 2. Salvage yards should use safety chains or other means to secure autos when they are elevated and moved by forklifts. 3. Salvage yards should provide safe dismantling areas where cars are adequately supported.
• Content Notes:
  Publication Date provided by FACE program
  
  not printed on the report.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Equipment-design Equipment-reliability Injuries Injury-prevention Mechanics OSHA Region 7 Protective-measures Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Waste Management and Remediation Services
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE95IA033
• 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:
  4 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20028244
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2009-106731
• 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 95IA033, 1996 Mar ; :1-4
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1996
• Performing Organization:
  Iowa Department of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  56 - Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services - (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-512:11364b98091ba2da6272d647f97d89f440a95470fe8d39ed3fbc049aa622f01c0a22d30cd5b82610800d2db8b8f5e38dc5658634ea0cf548b57c048196640a92
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166837/cdc_166837_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 22.37 KB ]