Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1480460.015 - Premier Ski Boat Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Fort Worth Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 8:55 a.m. on June 23, 2020, an employee was working for a boat dealer. He was using a Kubota tractor to move a boat and trailer located in the facility's shop bay. He connected the boat to the tractor and begun repositioning the boat. As the employee started moving the boat, the boat trailer disconnected from the tractor and continued moving toward some parked boats. A coworker, the lead technician, was present. He yelled to the employee to let the boat go. The employee got in front of the moving boat and between the moving boat and the parked boats to attempt to stop the disconnected moving boat. The employee was caught in between the boats when they collided. He was struck by the moving boat and pinned between it and the parked boats. He was killed. The lead technician felt that the cause of the incident was a failure to ensure that the trailer ball was secured in the hitch and to secure the safety pin in the hitch. The employer did not have a standard operating procedure (SOP) for moving vessels and trailers with the use of a Kubota tractor. It had one created on July 3, 2020. The employer was to provide the employees training on the importance of following the procedure when connecting the tractor to the vessel trailer. It covered inserting the safety pin, walking around the vessel to ensure that it was connected correctly, and verifying that the trailer was connected properly to the tractor.

Keywords: Boat, Caught Between, Crushed, Equipment Operator, Nip Point, Pinned, Restraining Device, Tractor, Trailer, Training, Work Rules