Inspection Detail

Inspection: 17440348 - Warrior Tractor And Equipment Company

Inspection Information - Office: Jackson Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 12:40 p.m. on September 12, 1988, Employee #1 was attempting to load a Prentice RT-600B hydraulic knuckle boom machine onto a Pitts 50 ton lowboy trailer by backing the machine up the ramps on the lowboy trailer. According to witnesses, the machine had just come through a 10 to 15 minute rain shower and was not running very well. Employee #1 was alone in the machine's cab with no one in the vicinity to give him directions or signals as he backed up. The lowboy trailer was 8 ft 6 in.; the width of the outside tire track was 8 ft 9 in.; and the width of the inside tire track was 5 ft 1 in. Employee #1 evidently accelerated the machine up the ramp and onto the trailer's bed, which was wet and slippery from the rain. Evidently, the machine was not centered on the trailer and it slipped off and fell 32 in. to the roadbed. The machine rolled into a ditch that was approximately 36 in. deep, causing the cab to crash toward the boom. Employee #1 was crushed in the cab between the ground and the boom. He sustained massive internal injuries and died on the scene.

Keywords: LOADING, DITCH, ROLL-OVER, CRUSHED, FALL, SLIPPERY SURFACE, TRAILER, FALLING OBJECT