Inspection Detail

Inspection: 104620851 - Western Nevada Supply Co

Inspection Information - Office: Nv-E-Reno 0953210

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, a truck driver, had just brought in a load of pipe that had been returned by customers. Most of the pipe was still banded together, but there were also ten pieces of loose pipe on the trailer, ranging in size from 14 to 20 ft long and from 4 to 15 in. in diameter. Employee #1 was attempting to unload the pipe from the 40 ft flatbed trailer by himself. As he loosened the last strap holding the loose pipe, it rolled off the trailer and landed on top of him. He was crushed between the loose pipe and a stack of metal ductile pipe. Employee #1 died of severe head and chest injuries. Standard operating procedure is to obtain a forklift and set the forks under loose pipes to prevent them from falling when the load is unstrapped. Employee #1 apparently did not follow this procedure because he had backed his flatbed down an aisle and a forklift could not fit between the trailer and the pipe that was already stored on the ground.

Keywords: CHEST, HEAD, WORK RULES, CRUSHED, FALL, OFF LOADING, PIPE, STRUCK BY, TRUCK DRIVER, UNSTABLE LOAD