Abstract: Employee #1, who was a night receiving supervisor, and a clerk were unloading a railroad box car filled with onions. This entailed unstacking by hand, then restacking by hand onto wooden pallets. Fully stacked pallets were moved by an electric pallet truck, Baker Moto-Truc, off the rail car by way of a dockplate onto the dock and then stored in a warehouse. The truck was being operated by Employee #1, who at the time of the accident was bringing the truck onto the railroad car. The alloy metal dock plate measured 60 in. by 54 in. The bottom had an edge with two extended lips. This was set on the car side and the other flat side rested on the dock side. There was an 11 in. height difference between the dock and the railroad car. Employee #1 bumped the plate, then reversed the direction of the truck and "gunned" it forward. This caused the plate to slide from the edge of the opening of the railroad car where it was resting. It fell 51 in. to the ground and Employee #1, who was on top, fell with it. The empty pallet truck also slid down, striking Employee #1. He suffered 9 broken ribs, a broken shoulder bone, and collapsed lungs. Another larger dock plate is normally used, but both are incapable of being secured in position. The employees were familiar with procedures for railroad car unloading and truck handling.