Inspection Detail

Inspection: 119759223 - City Garbage Of Eureka

Inspection Information - Office: Redding District Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was operating a Lodal, Inc., side-loading garbage truck, company #13, serial #1L9C 84686HK006595, for a garbage collection business. While the employee was on his route in Eureka, CA, a neighbor saw him get into the hopper of the truck. He was later found severed at the midsection, with the lower half of his body behind the platen of the compaction equipment and the truck still running. There were no witnesses. The cause of the fatality was that Employee #1 entered the compaction hopper without locking out the equipment. Company records indicate that the truck had a continuing problem with a limit switch that caused the compaction cycle to malfunction. It can only be speculated why Employee #1 entered the hopper, but the limit switch is most easily reached from inside the hopper and, when the truck was checked after the accident, it was found that the compaction cycle was malfunctioning. The employer was cited for three serious violations: T8CCR 3328(g), for not maintaining the L3 truck in a safe operating condition; 43555(a)(2), for not using the manufacturer's operating manual for training the operators; and 4355(c)(5), for not having the equipment locked out at the time of the accident.

Keywords: SEVERED, GARBAGE TRUCK, INADEQUATE MAINT, WORK RULES, LOCKOUT, CRUSHED, UNTRAINED, LIMIT SWITCH, MECH MALFUNCTION