Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300397312 - Fraenkel Company, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Baton Rouge Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 9:15 a.m. on September 2, 1997, Employee #1 was working in a furniture warehouse. He was using a Crown lift machine, which can raise both the operator and platform, to move sofas, bedding, etc. from floor level to a series of overhead storage racks. Employee #1 was working at the fifth storage level, approximately 20 feet above the floor, trying to make room for a sofa on the shelf when he fell from the edge of the steel platform holding the sofa and was killed. He did not have a safety belt or lanyard attached to himself for fall protection. Employee #1 had been trained by a local forklift company representative and by a Fraenkel company supervisor in the proper operation of the Crown lift and the need to wear a safety belt and lanyard. He had also signed a form indicating that he understood that he was to wear and use a safety belt and lanyard when operating a stock picker lift. There were no eyewitnesses to the accident. Employee #1 acted as an assistant supervisor in the warehouse on occasion and had worked at the establishment for over nine years.

Keywords: WORK RULES, SAFETY BELT, INDUSTRIAL TRUCK, LANYARD, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, ELEVATED WORK PLAT