Abstract: At approximately 6:15 a.m. on September 17, 2001, Employee #1, a trash truck driver, was seriously injured when a trash truck hit him. Employee #1 went to pick up trash at a customer's location and stopped his truck. Employee #1 stated that he applied only the hand brake on that day thinking that it would do the same job as the regular parking brake. Employee #1 got off the truck to open the gate of the trash bin when accident occurred. The engine was running and the truck was stationery when Employee #1 got off the truck. Employee #1 did not apply the regular parking brake in violation of the company safety policy. The truck moved forward about 6 ft from its position and Employee #1 could not move out of the way because it happened unexpectedly and quickly. Employee #1 suffered a few broken ribs on his left side and was hospitalized.