Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1704763.015 - Esmeralda Trucking Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Chicago South Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 5:30 a.m. on October 18, 2023, an employee working as a truck driver for a freight company was unloading material from a dump trailer. At 6:11 a.m., the employee was found on the ground near the back of the tractor cab unresponsive. It appeared that the rear axle airbags on the trailer failed during the unloading process. The employee exited the tractor to assess the condition of the vehicle by climbing up onto the catwalk on the back of the trailer. When the employee grabbed the handle on the tractor fin to access the catwalk, the handle broke away from the tractor. The employee fell approximately one to two feet from the steps attached to the diesel fuel tank on the driver's side of the tractor to the asphalt ground below. The employee had died from a blunt force trauma injury to the back on his head.

Keywords: Asphalt, Blunt force, Blunt force trauma, Catwalk, Climbing, Delivery Work, Driver, Equipment Failure, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Fuel Tank, Head, Motor Vehicle, Step, Struck Against, Truck, Truck Driver, Unloading, Unresponsive