Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1476037.015 - Tague Lumber Of Media, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Osha Philadelphia Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 11:35 a.m. on May 18, 2020, an employee was working as a laborer for a firm that sold lumber, tools and supplies, and custom millwork. He was at a building materials distribution center and showroom, working in the lumber storage building. The lumber firm had hired an outside contractor to install a new gutter system on the corrugated metal building. The contractor installed a portion of the gutter system and then left, with the job incomplete. The lumber firm's maintenance supervisor had assigned some of its own employees to replace the old downspouts on the gutter system with new ones. They had worked on the gutter system a week before, and on the day of the incident they were back again. The employee and a coworker were using a Hyster model H80XM forklift, with serial number L005V07883D, that was equipped with a Vestil Manufacturing Corporation aerial platform forklift attachment, possibly a model WP-3131-FD or SP-175. The coworker operated the forklift, while the employee worked from the platform. The employee was working from the elevated platform at a height of about 15 feet (4.6 meters). The forklift was on a slight hill, at a slope of about one-in-three. At some point, the employee, on the working platform, asked the operator to leave the truck to get a downspout band. The forklift operator walked away from his machine. By the time he was 12 feet (3.7 meters) away, the forklift began to roll down the hill. It rammed into a half-wall and tipped over. The employee in the working platform fell with the platform. He suffered multiple fractures, including a broken femur and a broken hip, and traumatic brain injury. He was hospitalized. There was a scissor lift on site, but it was in disrepair and could not be used for the task. A warning label affixed to the platform in plain view said that the platform was to be used only on level ground. The platform had been used for such general tasks as changing light bulbs, cleaning gutters, and general building repairs.

Keywords: Brain, Broken Bone, Elevated Work Plat, Elevated Work Platform, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Forklift, Fracture, Hip, Ind Trk Operator, Industrial Truck, Powered Industrial Vehicle, Roll, Slope, Tips Over, Training, Traumatic Brain Injury, Work Rules, Work at Elevation