Abstract: Employee #1, of ARB, Inc., a large engineering contractor in Paramount, CA, had only been working for a few days when he was assigned to clean up a service yard that served as a parking lot for a variety of pieces of construction equipment. Employee #1 and a coworker were using a Case 580K front loader/backhoe combination to pick up trash, scrap, broken pallets, etc. The loader/backhoe was parked with the engine running and no operator at the controls. Employee #1 approached the loader/backhoe from the back, between the boom and one of the raised outriggers. He placed a heavy plastic drinking jug on the floor of the cab, inadvertently setting it on an uncovered foot pedal that controlled the slewing motion of the boom. The boom swung around and caught his neck and body between the boom and the foot of the outrigger. Employee #1 was paralyzed from the neck down.