Fatality Narrative: Orchard Laborer Crushed Between Grader and Semi-Truck

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  On September 27, 2009, a 38-year-old apple orchard laborer died when he was crushed between a road grader and a semi-truck. The victim had worked at the apple orchard for 7 years performing a variety of tasks including operating and maintaining orchard machinery. On the day of the incident, a semi-truck with an attached flatbed trailer was traveling up a 6 to 7% grade gravel orchard road to a staging area where it was to be loaded with apple bins. The truck lost traction, so orchard workers decided to use a grader to tow the truck to the staging area. The towing process involved backing the grader up to the truck and attaching a chain between the two. The victim and grader operator had both used this towing method many times. As the grader operator started reversing downhill, about 40 feet from the truck, he noticed that the grader's brakes were not working. He pumped the brakes and tried to change gears, which slowed the grader but did not stop it. The operator saw the victim and truck driver hooking up the chain to the truck and yelled to them, but they were unable to hear over the noise of the grader. The grader struck the victim, crushing him against the truck. The truck driver's right leg was pinned between the grader and truck. An investigation found the grader's brakes functioned properly and there were no defects that would have prevented braking. Witnesses stated they saw the grader stop briefly a short distance from the victim and then jolt backwards, striking him. After the incident the operator stated that if the grader was not used regularly (it had not been used in over a week) that its brakes needed to be pumped several times before they worked properly. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Automobiles Education Mortality Occupational Health Safety Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Agricultural Agricultural Machinery Agricultural Safety Agricultural Workers Equipment Maintenance Equipment Operation Equipment Operators Fatalities Hazards Injuries Motor Vehicles Safety Measures Safety Practices Training Traumatic Injuries Work Environment Workers Worker Safety

  More +
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• 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:20051512
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-119-2013, 2013 Apr; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Fatality narrative: orchard laborer crushed between grader and semi-truck
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b4d114807267f33b0e49b0a000350fe4aa12246bf2421e41b069ea3d031a33724e86f7a6d5b00385b5c9cdf930998c84ac813de8be77b0f1e187b8db3e69000b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228752/cdc_228752_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 168.14 KB ]