Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300759461 - Personnel Plus

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:40 a.m. on August 18, 2000, Employee #1, a material handler working for a temporary labor company, was on contract to a large distribution company. He was in a 50 ft long by 18 ft wide corridor that ended in a wall and a standard door that led to some offices and a parking lot. He was finishing his lunch break when he remembered that he had left his back brace in his vehicle. He left his assigned work area and drove a 3,000 lb Clark high lift fork truck, serial #345-0434-09454FB, to the office building near the parking lot. As he neared the exit to the parking lot, he tried to stop. When it was evident that he was going to hit the wall, he reached out of the truck and tried to manually stop it. His left arm was crushed between the lift's upright and the warehouse wall, resulting in two fractures requiring two metal pins and thirty-five staples. Employee #1 was transferred by the host employer to Technimed Industrial Medical Clinic, Inc., where he was treated for his injuries. The lift truck was examined by the management of the distribution company and by an outside safety consulting contractor, neither of whom found any reason for a malfunction. Employee #1 was well-trained and had prior experience on similar lifts trucks. Among the factors contributing to the accident were excessive speed, failure to maintain control, and use of a forklift for unassigned duties in unauthorized areas.

Keywords: FRACTURE, IND TRK OPERATOR, SPEEDING, WORK RULES, FOREARM, STRUCK AGAINST, CAUGHT BETWEEN, INDUSTRIAL TRUCK, MECH MAT HANDLING, LOST CONTROL