Inspection Detail

Inspection: 301132080 - Marine Terminals Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Oakland District Office

Investigation Summary

At the time of the accident, an employee was completing his term on the second shift. He decided to check the temperature of a refrigerated unit that had been "running hot" since about 8:00 p.m. The employee got into his company assigned 1987 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck No. 217 and drove to the unit that was in Row A-300, the last row in the northeast corner of the container storage section. He activated the windshield wipers because it was raining, but they weren't working well and kept smearing the windshield. The employee was driving with his headlights off, and only the parking lights and strobe light activated. This is a common practice on the yard. To get to the unit he drove west away from the guard shack, past the gate booth and approximately 75 more yards before turning right (north) past a light standard (C456), and then another right into the row containing the unit. He did not notice container chassis stored in the area called "trouble parking" on that trip or on two previous trips to the unit that evening. There were at least six chassis positioned in the "trouble parking" lot such that their nose ends extended approximately eleven feet beyond a designated walkway. The employee recalls on the previous two trips to Row A-300, he returned to the guard shack by the same route. However, on this last trip, he returned southward along the eastern end of the rows of containers, behind the administration building, then a right turn (west) in front of the empty, damaged and off-dock storage area, then a hard left turn at the same light standard. After making the left turn by the light standard the vehicle traveled approximately 55 feet in a southeasterly direction when the left front windshield frame of the truck struck the front end of a container chassis (#EMCZ4452231) extending beyond the outer perimeter of the defined walkway. The employee at the time of impact was traveling about 15 mph. The collision caused the vehicle to spin out of control, spinning and hydroplaning, traveling approximately 75 yards in a more southeasterly direction until it struck an unused booth in front of the number one gate. The truck then spun about fifty feet in the opposite direction (west) and came to a stop facing north. The third shift watchman states he heard the noise of the collisions, went out of the guard shack, found an operable vehicle and drove in the direction of the sound. The relief watchman helped the injured worker into his truck and drove him to the guard shack. First aid was administered and the employee remained until paramedics arrived. The force of the impact from the collision between the employee's vehicle and the trailer chassis, then the booth, caused a fractured chin, fractured cheek, damage to eye socket, facial abrasions, scalp and ear lacerations and left leg paralysis. He was hospitalized for his injuries.

Keywords: EYE, FRACTURE, VEHICLE, DRIVER, EAR, COLLISION, TRUCK, ABRASION, STORAGE AREA, LEG