Maintenance Manager Dies After Falling 7 Feet from an Elevated Forklift Safety Platform - North Carolina: FACE 98-01

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program
• Description:
  On September 24, 1997, a 61-year-old male maintenance manager (the victim) died after falling 7 feet from a safety platform that had been elevated by a forklift. The victim had been raised in a steel-framed cage-type safety platform that had not been secured to the forklift. The victim removed a fluorescent light bulb from its fixture and stepped to one side of the safety platform. When the victim shifted his weight from the center of the platform to the outer edge, the safety platform toppled off the forks of the forklift. The victim, along with the safety platform, fell about 7 feet to a concrete floor where the victim struck his head and was also struck by the steel safety platform. The forklift operator called 911 and the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) arrived about 7 minutes later. The EMS transported the victim to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. NIOSH investigators concluded that, to prevent similar incidents, employers should: Implement 29 CFR 190.178 (m) (12) (i), which requires the use of a safety platform firmly secured to the lifting carriage and/or forks when lifting personnel with a powered industrial truck (e.g., forklift). Ensure that personnel assigned to operate forklifts are thoroughly trained. Ensure that workers continually adhere to the safe work procedures that have been established by the employer. Routinely conduct scheduled and unscheduled worksite safety inspections.
• Subjects:
  • Accident Prevention
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Accidental Falls
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Manufacturing and Industrial Facilities
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • Forklift-safety
  • Industrial-safety
  • Accident-prevention
  • OSHA Region 4
  • Falls-deaths
  • Head-injury
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  All ; Falls
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  NIOSH (In-House)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFACE9801
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  6 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Braddee, Richard W. ; Casini, Virgil J. ; Hodous, Thomas K ; Pettit, Thomas A.
• Volume:
  1998
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20000441
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB99-157133
• Citation:
  Morgantown, : U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1998
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  81 - Other Services (except Public Administration) - (NAICS 2022)
• Start Date:
  1997/09/24
• Resource Number:
  FACE 98-01
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/167410/cdc_167410_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.26 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a754d84c20053addc5e49a66ab0dcb644e199d5736a7679a50916914155633b292f306b068baa792b883ff0c84cac6005103b49f6b992cf77d7fb546d71af0c1