Abstract: At 9:00 a.m. on January 23, 2015, a crane operator lifted the two (2) sheets off the trailer; however due to the cold weather, the wood spacers that were placed between the sheets of steel were frozen to the bottom side of the lower plate. Employee #1 bent over and used another spacer to knock the other spacers off the plate. He did this standing between the sheets of plate steel and the flatbed trailer. Once the spacers had been removed, the operator immediately moved the overhead crane, thinking he was moving the plates to their staging area; however the operator inadvertently moved the crane in the opposite direction (toward the trailer). When he realized the error, he released the controls, however the momentum caused the sheets of plate steel to swing into the trailer, catching Employee #1 who by that time had stood upright facing the trailer, and pinning him to the side of the trailer. Employee #1 was killed when he sustained crushing injuries to his chest and upper torso.