Abstract: At 9:45 p.m. on December 18, 2002, a truck hauling company was hauling aggregate and sand to the yard of a road construction company. The unloading ramp enabled truck drivers to drive their bottom-dump trucks up over a conveyor belt feed hopper. The driver would proceed to the entrance of the ramp, get out of his truck, and start the required conveyor belts for the material he was delivering. He would then get back into the cab and drive the truck up onto the ramp until the doors of the first trailer were over the feed hopper for the conveyor belts. To ensure that his trailer was properly positioned over the hopper, the driver would get out and confirm proper positioning. Although the trailers could be dumped from the cab, actuating the doors while out of the cab was easier. After the hopper was empty, the truck driver would position his second trailer over the hopper and repeat the process. If the trailer was not properly positioned, a portion of the aggregate or sand would remain on the ramp. Manual clean up of the ramp was the driver's responsibility. Excess build up on the ramp could throw trucks off balance. If the trailer was very poorly positioned, dumping the load could trap or cement the truck to the ramp until a bull dozer could push it free. Employee # 1 had dumped his first trailer, had relocated the truck, and was apparently on his way back to the second trailer to confirm proper positioning and open the doors. He fell approximately 88 inches off the north side of the unloading ramp to the concrete below. The north side of the ramp consisted of a vertical retaining wall with concrete surface below. The retaining wall extended above the surface of the ramp to form a curb. The north side of the ramp had no guard rails except immediately around the feed hopper. There was only a 5.5 inch curb with no guard rails. The driver's side of the truck was on the north side of the ramp. Employee #1 was paralyzed from the nipple line down due to a fractured back. He also fractured his left wrist. He was hospitalized about 3 weeks.