Abstract: On March 9, 2004, Employee #1, working for Mountain Cascade Inc. in Castro Valley, CA, was unloading a load, which consisted of four steel pipes from a flatbed trailer. The load had been mounted on the bed of the truck in a two-tier configuration, that is, two pipes per tier were saddled on wood planks that served as dunning material. Employee #1 and two coworkers unloaded the first pipe and proceeded to tie down the remaining load with a 4-inch wide synthetic webbing strap. The strap was attached to a hook located on the right side, then passed over the remaining pipe on the second tier located on the left side of the trailer, and finally inserted into the mandrel of a winch also found on the left side. The strap was applied tension to fasten the pipes in place. At the time of the accident, Employee #1 was seen working alone at the point of incident. As he was preparing to unload another pipe, Employee #1 installed two slings on the top pipe and then manipulated the winch to loosen the tension on the strap that was previously put in place. When the tension on the strap was loosened, the top pipe, located above the winch, rolled off and fell on Employee #1. He was crushed and killed due to the weight of the pipe. The pipe was approximately 40 ft long by 36 in. diameter and weighed about 8,000 lbs. Employee #1 had been working for the employer for six months and had no previous construction or rigging experience.