Trash Collector Dies After Being Caught in Compactor of Refuse Vehicle - North Carolina: FACE 96-03

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program
• Description:
  A 47-year-old man who worked for a small refuse collection business died as a result of being caught and pinned by the compactor plate in a refuse collection truck. The victim and a coworker were riding the route together, so that the coworker might learn the route. The victim was driving the vehicle. The coworker worked the curb side of the vehicle. In order to gain additional space in the truck, the victim turned on the switch to advance the platen into the compactor body, beyond the normal automatic stroke. He then entered the hopper, apparently to remove some debris, but accidentally activated the platen return switch, causing the platen to retract suddenly, pinning him. The coworker immediately threw the shutdown switch and called for help. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene due to crushing injuries. It is recommended that employers ensure that their workers are following appropriate hazardous energy control procedures including lockout and tagout operations, that workers are familiar with all the features of the equipment they are using, that manufacturers of automatically operated equipment consider installing redundant safety features, and that all equipment be checked on delivery so that it is certain to be operating correctly.
• Subjects:
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Crush Injuries
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
  • Waste Management
• Keywords:
  • OSHA Region 4
  • FACE-96-03
  • Accident-analysis
  • Safety-research
  • Equipment-operators
  • Equipment-design
  • Waste-disposal
  • Traumatic-injuries
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  All ; Machine (All) ; Machine - Manufacturing ; Motor Vehicles ; Energy Production ; Prevention through Design (PtD) ; Waste Management and Remediation Services ; Motor Vehicles - Refuse Truck
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  NIOSH (In-House)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFACE9603
• 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:
  4 pdf pages
• Volume:
  1996
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00230283
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB96-194261
• 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:
  1996
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  56 - Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services - (NAICS 2022)
• Start Date:
  1995/11/03
• Resource Number:
  FACE 96-03
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/167440/cdc_167440_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 319.95 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4e68ad7fbac089fcc02200358d38b7d5a2ac95510d0eb96c816f35d32b8b9dfc7079ea599fa7738c9e5b5640831ed612a9a26cf4bfe1a94060e196773b925c28