UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee #1, age 19, was helping the company owner and a coworker construct a new concrete boat launch ramp. The owner told him to use the John Deere loader/backhoe, model 2010W, serial #47146, to bring an H-beam to the ramp area. Employee #1 followed instructions, resting the beam behind the loader bucket on the bucket arms. He drove the machine about halfway down the boat ramp incline, then stopped to let the coworker and the owner remove the beam. Employee #1 had dismounted to lend a hand when the coworker noticed the machine was starting to roll. Employee #1 stood on the ground and reached inside the cab in an attempt to stop it using the control levers. He was knocked down, run over by the rear wheel of the vehicle, and dragged approximately 7 feet by the backhoe attachment. Employee #1 was killed. Subsequent investigation revealed that the left-hand reverse lever had been in the 'neutral' position and that the right-hand shift lever had been in the '1-2' position, the gear just before 'park'.