Abstract: At 12:09 p.m. on June 8, 2004, Employee #1 had started the compaction device of a trash truck which activated a blade within the trash container and pushed debris from the front of the truck to the rear of the truck. While the unit was running, Employee #1 was cleaning up some glass debris approximately 7 to10 feet behind the truck. The rear door of the compaction unit popped opened and struck him. He was admitted to Huntington Memorial Hospital for treatment of a contusion to his left lung and facial trauma with loss of teeth. According to Employee #1, as part of the routine preoperation truck inspection, he noted that the tailgate warning light for the rear door was not on, indicating that the rear locking mechanism and rear door was secured. However, it was found that the rear door of the compactor was closed but only partially secured and the trash truck's tailgate warning light was not properly functioning.