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It Really Happened: Knee Deep in Pain



Details

  • Corporate Authors:
    Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
  • Description:
    A 46-year-old truck driver suffered a bad knee sprain after slipping off an icy trailer ladder. It was a cold, wet winter day, and the driver was working alone in the terminal yard. He was a new employee, hired to drive a tractor with an open double-deck car carrier trailer. The trailer had several metal ladders fixed to its sides for the driver to reach the upper deck. When the driver finished working on the upper deck, he started to climb down a ladder, without checking its condition. As he stepped on the bottom rung, his foot slipped on some ice. Landing with full weight on his right foot, the driver felt a sharp pain in his knee. Unable to stand, he sat alone for nearly an hour, massaging his knee until help arrived. X-rays of the driver's knee revealed a sprain injury. Pain and swelling made it hard to move around and sleep at night. Having to use crutches, the driver missed several weeks of work before his knee healed. TIPS TO LIVE BY - Management: Provide initial and refresher training for drivers on how to inspect and climb trailer ladders. Include job hazard assessments in your company safety program that identify injury risks and prevention solutions for using trailer ladders. Apply slip-resistant coating or grit tape to trailer ladders, steps, and walking surfaces. Drivers: Always inspect trailer ladders for wet or icy conditions before using them. Remove any ice or liquid that creates a slip hazard on the ladder. Use 3-points of contact, facing the ladder, holding the rails firmly and closely, keeping your body near the middle of the steps, and climbing all steps. Use anti-slip footwear that is appropriate for the weather conditions. All Employees: Actively look for hazards and share injury prevention ideas with management. [Description provided by NIOSH]
  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • Publisher:
    Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Funding:
    Cooperative Agreement
  • Genre:
    Report
  • Place as Subject:
  • CIO:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • Topic:
    Workplace Safety & Health
  • Location:
    North America
  • Pages in Document:
    1
  • NIOSHTIC Number:
    nn:20058956
  • Citation:
    Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 90-129-2019, 2019 Winter; :1
  • Federal Fiscal Year:
    2020
  • Performing Organization:
    Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
  • Peer Reviewed:
    False
  • Start Date:
    20050701
  • Source Full Name:
    It really happened: knee deep in pain
  • End Date:
    20260630
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:6ca097a3e4510332117c28b8f32d786dd82c190ae7dbc3200043167ef31a7da0679a98886922669411c16f4069cbf38b2a5b0eaf3d682713f283ab5c3f3918d9
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 689.94 KB ]
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