UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Abstract: At about 10:50 a.m. on April 13, 2017, Employee #1's head struck against an over pass while standing on top of pallets filled with 50 pound bags of thermoplastic pavement marking material measuring approximately 42 feet long by 36 feet wide by 59 feet high. The pallets were located in the Bagging Area of the Peterbilt R oad Striping Truck, Vehicle Identification Number (VIN): 3BPZXJEX8EF241456; The rmoplastic Striping Pump: Model Number: 4 - 16000 - AD -G; Serial Number: 134 17. This area was located between the truck cab and the kettles (melter tanks) feet and used to store extra bags of thermoplastic. The dimension of this area w as approximately 65 feet long by 96 feet wide and 55.5 feet from ground. The ac cident occurred in a traffic circle leading under an overpass. Employee #1 was tasked to feed bags of thermoplastic powder into the melter. The melter was a ta nk that heated the thermoplastic material into a liquid. The employer was contra cted to repaint traffic lines onto the roadway in a county. The team members pr epared their equipment at a nearby convenience store which was approximately 1/2 mile away from their work zone. The crew leader instructed the members to load up and head out. The team included a four vehicle convoy. The crew leader dro ve the road striping truck with an operator sitting in the operator's seat locat ed at the rear of the truck. Employee #1 was located in the Bagging Area. When the convoy departed the convenience store parking lot, the road striping truck l ead the convoy with Employee #1 standing on top of the pallets and placing him a pproximately 114.5 feet above the ground. The road striping truck entered the c ircle and headed towards the overpass which was approximately 192 feet above the ground. As the road striping truck approached the overpass, Employee #1 was fa cing the rear of the vehicle. When the road striping truck drove under the over pass, the back of Employee #1's head struck against the side of the overpass. A t this moment, the remaining vehicles in the convoy never entered the traffic ci rcle due to the high volume of traffic. Employee #1 sustained head trauma and s econd degree burns to both hands and was hospitalized. On April 24, 2017 at abo ut 4:30p.m. Employee #1 passed away. Employee #1 did not use the passenger seat in the cab or the operator's seat located at the rear of the truck. Employees overfilled the bagging area with six pallets of thermoplastic bags. This condit ion did not allow Employee #1 use of one of the two fold down platforms measurin g approximately 38.5 feet long by 18.5 feet wide.