Maintenance Mechanic Died after Falling Approximately 30 Feet from an Elevated Forklift Platform in California

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  California Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program (CA/FACE) ; California. Department of Health Services
• Description:
  A 44-year-old, male maintenance mechanic (the victim) died after falling approximately 30 feet from an elevated platform (crow's nest) that was being lifted by a forklift. The crow's nest was 48" x 26", was equipped with a 36" protective rail, and was attached to the top of a 15' pole. The victim had requested that a coworker, who had not been trained in forklift operations, lift him so that the victim could inspect a lighting fixture. The coworker stated that when the victim finished his observation, he (the coworker) began to lower the forks. However, the fork carriage traveled up out of the inner rails, allowing the carriage to tilt forward at a 45 degree angle. Neither the victim nor the crow's nest were secured or tied off. The victim fell 30 feet to a table below, and the crow's nest fell on top of him. Coworkers summoned paramedics to the scene and the victim was taken to the hospital where he died approximately two weeks later on February 11, 1995 at 1:05 p.m. Examination of the forklift after the incident revealed that both stops that prevent the carriage from traveling up out of the inner rail were missing. One stop broke at the time of the incident. The other stop had been missing from the forklift for at least one year. No evaluation of the controls was performed after the incident so it is unknown if they were functioning properly. The victim had been employed with this company for three months. The employer had no provision within their Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) to ensure safe work practices. The CA/FACE investigator concluded that in order to prevent similar future occurrences, employers should: 1. have machinery and equipment such as forklifts inspected and serviced on a regular basis. 2. ensure safe work practices among employees by use of recognition, training, or discipline. 3. have a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the proper use of a crow's nest. 4. require that employees be adequately guarded or restrained when being elevated by a forklift.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Maintenance Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Injuries Injury-prevention Maintenance-workers OSHA Region 9 Personal-protection 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

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• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Falls ; Machine (All) ; Machine - General
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE95CA001
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  6 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20027046
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2007-112113
• 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 95CA001, 1995 Jun ; :1-6
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• Performing Organization:
  California Department of Health Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  31-33 - Manufacturing - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1991/09/30
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:61f1fd4ac7f51f3483ecc0028a4200e6a58175b908df893be49bd2d4eeb0b240c07678c02fdde9dd5da6803ce34bd1341e04d8c1c55c91d38c511bafbd5c89e2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/169028/cdc_169028_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 54.21 KB ]