Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1630646.015 - Milans Machine Shop & Welding, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Fort Lauderdale Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 10:15 a.m. on October 19, 2022, an employee was in his welding workstation verifying if the adjustment done to the forklift's fork was correct. As more adjustment was required, he started to hoist the load with an overhead crane, walking next to it while grabbing it . The employee walked with the fork approximately 20 feet, while engaging in the task of lifting and moving the load (a forklift's fork) with an overhead crane to a hydraulic press. The load came off the screw clamp being used to hold/connect the forklift's fork to the hoisting devices used with the overhead crane, causing the fork to drop down to the ground from the shortest side and immediately bouncing back the longest side of the fork, impacting the worker in the head, as the employee was in the back of it during the whole operation. The employee lost consciousness when struck in the face and head by the 150 pound forklift's fork. The employee was hospitalized and the next day was pronounced brain dead. Two days later, the employee was removed from life support and died. The employee suffered blunt force injures to the head: a.) cutaneous abrasions; b.) subscapular and galea hemorrhage; c.) multiple skull fractures; d.) subdural hemorrhage; e.) cerebral contusions.

Keywords: Abrasion, Blunt force trauma, Contusion, Face, Forklift, Forks, Fracture, Hemorrhage, Hoist, Hoisting Mechanism, Hydraulic Press, Overhead Crane, Struck By, Welder