UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Abstract: On February 3, 1999, Employee #1, working at a meat packing plant, was backing a lift truck out of a trailer when the trailer was driven away from the loading dock. On the day of the accident, the delivery driver arrived early and backed his tractor to the dock to attach a trailer. The trailer was already at the loading dock and being loaded. Employee #1 was using a forklift truck to load the trailer with processed beef and had nearly completed the loading. The tractor trailer driver spent several minutes in the company office until he received a bill from the office staff. The driver then returned to the truck and completed paperwork on his log book. Meanwhile, Employee #1 was completing instructions from the loading dock supervisor to reposition the last four pallets so that the pallet jack would fit on the end of the trailer. Employee #1 removed the last four pallets and was reloading the first of the four. The employee set the pallet down in the rear of the trailer and started to back the forklift to reposition the pallet. As he was backing the lift truck across the dock plate, the delivery driver pulled the tractor and trailer a short distance away from the loading dock. The forklift fell off the edge of the dock and the operator suffered fatal injuries. The tractor trailer driver stated that he did not feel any movement of the trailer while he was completing paperwork and assumed that the loading was completed.