UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Abstract: At 2:15 p.m. on August 26, 2022, an employee was picking up broken pieces of por celain inside a 53 foot trailer at a stone product manufacturing facility. Sever al A-frame stands with porcelain slabs were damaged in transit, and the employee was using a hammer, shovel, broom and forklift with a trash bin while cleaning up the damaged slabs. The employee was performing cleanup to allow for removal o f the A-frame stands from the trailer, including stands that still held porcelai n slabs. When a coworker driving the forklift was backing out of the trailer wit h the trash bin, the slabs fell off the A-frame stand. The employee was bent ove r and picking up broken on the trailer floor when the slab fell from the stand. The employee was killed when crushed by the slab, sustaining blunt force injurie s to the torso and upper extremities and compression of the chest. The slabs wer e not stored in a secure manner to prevent them from falling, and the banding ma terial for several slabs had been damaged in transit. The banding was not replac ed before working adjacent to the stands.