Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1698142.015 - New Vision Contracting, Llc.

Inspection Information - Office: Iowa 0751910

Investigation Summary

At 2:14 p.m. on September 15, 2023, an employee working as a carpenter for a commercial building contractor was assisting a coworker attempting to move an unassembled electric pallet stacker. They were trying to the move the stacker off of a wooden pallet in order to clear the basement door. The stacker was 82 inches tall, and the door had a vertical double door opening of 78.5 inches. They raised the material lift several inches above the concrete floor and then used a pallet jack on the south side in the raised position to match the material hoist height. With the coworker in position on the north side holding onto the handle for the pallet stacker and the employee standing on the pallet jack side, they attempted to maneuver the stacker north off the wooden pallet and onto the material lift. While the employee was pushing on the stacker and standing on the pallet jack, the pallet jack shifted out from underneath the pallet and caused the stacker to fall towards the door. The employee was immediately crushed under the top left side of the pallet stacker. The employee died from a crushed skull.

Keywords: Carpenter, Concrete Floor, Crushed, Falling Object, Head, Lack of Engineering Controls, Lack of Work Procedures, Load Shift, Material Handling, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Overhead Door, Pallet, Pallet Jack, Palletized Cargo, Powered Industrial Vehicle, Skull, Struck By, Work Surface