Abstract: On December 15, 2000 Employee #1 and a coworker were assigned to a back-loading team removing boxes of frozen food pallets that had been unloaded from a truck and reloading product onto pallets to meet the warehouse storage configuration. Employee #1 was attempting to steady some unstable boxes that were falling or about to fall from a pallet that was resting on the floor. The coworker boarded a forklift that was in the area to move the pallet and apparently did not see Employee #1. The coworker slid the forks into the pallet, sliding the pallet forward, catching Employee #1's leg between the pallet and a bollard, causing leg injuries. The coworker maintained that the forklift's throttle was stuck wide open which caused him to lose control of the machine. The company's maintenance staff and an outside vendor inspected the forklift and found no deficiencies. It was later determined that the coworker was not authorized to operate a powered industrial truck and had not performed a safety inspection prior to operating the forklift, both actions being serious violations of the company's well documented safety and health rules. Employee #1 was hospitalized.