Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1531789 - Jones Oregon Stevedoring Co

Inspection Information - Office: Northwest Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 4:30 p.m., longshoremen were using the two forklift pass-between method to load prepacked lumber units onto a covered barge for shipment overseas. The lumber packs were stowed in tiers 8 units high, 5 tiers to a row, with the long axis across the deck of the barge. The average stack was 24 in. high by 47 in. wide by 16 ft long, and the units were separated with 4 by 4 wooden spacers. Employee #1's job was to position the separators on the lumber units as they were prepared for stowage. The third unit up from the deck on the port-side tier was covered with opaque plastic. It had only two boards running the full length, and the assorted lumber within the pack left a space 24 in. long by 11 in. high by 16 in. deep. A unit separator was inadvertently placed below this space and these long boards. Under the weight of the five packs above it, the long boards in the third pack broke, and the port end of the pack fell 2 in. This caused the units above the third pack to fall over onto Employee #1. He was crushed and killed.

Keywords: LONGSHORING, WORK RULES, OVERLOADED, CRUSHED, FALL, STRUCK BY, FALLING OBJECT, UNSTABLE POSITION