Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1793585.015 - Melhorn Sales, Service, & Trucking Co.

Inspection Information - Office: Indiana Department Of Labor

Investigation Summary

At 2:44 p.m. on December 13, 2024, an employee was working as a laborer for a third party contractor at an egg processing facility. The employee was working with a crew tasked with loading chickens onto semi trailers for relocation from the one farm to another. Once a trailer is full, the employee uses a truck to relocate the trailer to the next location for offloading. At this time, a different truck and trailer arrive to continue the loading process. When trailers are being exchanged at the origin farm, the crew is permitted to take a break to eat, drink, or use the restroom. At the time of a full trailer was leaving and a new trailer arriving for loading, the employee began to walk across the road to the restroom. As he was walking, the employee slipped or tripped and fell beneath an empty trailer that was being positioned for loading. The driver did not see the employee and ran over him with the trailer. The employee was crushed from his hip area to his chest diagonally across his body by the rear wheels. The employee died as a result of his injuries.

Keywords: Break, Chest, Crushed, Dislocated, Driver, Driving, Fall, Fall On Same Level, Food processing, Fracture, Hip, Laborer, Laceration, Loading, Material Handling, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Multi-employer Worksite, Multiemployer, Road, Run Over, Semi Tractor Trailer, Slip, Slippery Surface, Struck By, Torso, Tractor Trailer, Tractor--Truck, Trailer, Trailer Truck, Tripped, Truck, Truck Driver, Unsafe Position, Walking Surface, Work Surface