Inspection Detail

Inspection: 119726982 - Energy Coatings

Inspection Information - Office: American Canyon District Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, a purchasing agent for Energy Coating, went to Beever's Welding to pick up a bundle of catwalk grate steel. The grate steel was being loaded onto the rack from the driver's side of his pickup truck. Employee #1 was standing in front of the truck. The design of the rack, with its raised side rails, required that loads had to be slid down the forks and over the rails in order to place them on the rack. As the load was being moved toward the truck, Employee #1 went to the passenger side of the cab to get a tie-down rope. The load was approximately 2 ft above the rack and was about to be tilted and lowered onto the rack. The load prematurely slid from the forks and struck Employee #1 on the back of the head. Employee #1 landed on his back as he fell forward, with the load finally coming to rest on his legs. The fractures and disc damage were identified as compression fractures. The injury could have been avoided if Employee #1 had remained in front of the truck until the load had been placed onto the rack.

Keywords: LOADING, FRACTURE, HEAD, WORK RULES, BACK, INDUSTRIAL TRUCK, STRUCK BY, FALLING OBJECT, UNSTABLE LOAD