It Really Happened: Abate the Weight

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  A 53-year-old truck driver injured his lower back while changing propane tanks on his forklift. He drove a flatbed truck with a trailer-mounted forklift he used to load freight alone. One day while loading pallets at a customer site, the driver parked his forklift to replace its empty propane tank. He removed the tank, set it on the ground, and grabbed a seventy-pound full one next to it. The motion of lifting and tilting the heavy steel tank from a bent over position up to his chest caused sudden pain in the driver's lower back and legs. He buckled and collapsed. On his own and unable to stand, he crawled slowly back to his truck's cab, where he fell several times pulling himself up the steps to reach his cell phone to call for help. Medical exams showed the driver severely strained his lower back. Over time, pain spread throughout his body, making it hard to stand, sit, or sleep. The injury has kept the driver from working and living a normal life for many months. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Back Injuries Forklifts Injury Prevention Manual Lifting Truck Drivers Trucking
• Publisher:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20058479
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 90-183-2018, 2018 Summer; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  It really happened: abate the weight
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:78e12b0e9e693944980f9d1840dd86fb49a542652d7ab332522ae4b59c32b64d95db386aeca6a8d46526e7653888760ab455e7f8dc9e879270beaf85b50af4fe
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/221567/cdc_221567_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 437.35 KB ]