Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300248614 - Christiansen Floral

Inspection Information - Office: Eau Claire Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, of Christensen Floral, and a coworker, an industrial truck operator for Fritz Koepl, Inc., were preparing to pull a pallet from the trailer of a semi-truck. They planned to wrap a chain around the pallet and then attach the other end of the chain to a hook on the bucket of the coworker's forklift/front-end loader. After pulling the pallet to the edge of the trailer, the coworker would turn his vehicle around to use the forks to lift the pallet out of the trailer. Employee #1 was standing between the bucket of the front-end loader and the rear of the trailer, attempting to attach the end of the chain to the hook. He needed a few more inches of slack to make the connection and asked the coworker to move ahead a few inches. When the coworker pushed the forward pedal to edge closer, the vehicle lurched forward 3 ft to 4 ft, crushing Employee #1 against the trailer. He was killed.

Keywords: FRONT END LOADER, IND TRK OPERATOR, CAUGHT BETWEEN, CRUSHED, INDUSTRIAL TRUCK, MECH MAT HANDLING, OFF LOADING, MECH MALFUNCTION