Inspection Detail

Inspection: 120295472 - The Torrance Company

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 9:15 a.m. on April 22, 1997, Employee #1, of Del Amo Fashion Center, was instructed through radio communication with his supervisor to proceed toward south mall corridor #11 to test and repair an electrical scissor lift. The lift's steering was not working properly and it would not turn. Employee #1 arrived at the site and turned on the power. On three sides, there were walls approximately 2 ft from the lift. There was no wall on the south side, and it was brought out that way. Employee #1 positioned himself on the north side of the lift in the space between the lift and the wall. He lifted the control panel, which was attached by cable to the equipment. As soon as he lifted the control, the machine was set in motion and it started advancing toward him, pinning him against the wall. After being caught for a few seconds, Employee #1 heard the sound of a gear change and the lift eased off from exerting pressure on him. Employee #1 was standing at one end of the scissor lift and pushed hard on the corner of the lift to make more space and to extricate himself. He suffered injuries to his face and torso, and was bleeding profusely when he came out of the corridor and asked coworkers to call the paramedics. Causal factors in this accident include the employer's failure to ensure that Employee #1 used extension tools or other methods to protect himself from injury due to inadvertent machine movement, and failure to ensure that the power source was not energized for those portions of the machine where power was not necessary.

Keywords: REPAIR, UNSECURED, PINNED, WORK RULES, CAUGHT BETWEEN, EXTENSION HANDLE, FACE, AERIAL LIFT