Inspection Detail

Inspection: 302337977 - Haverty'S Furniture Co. Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Austin Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was helping to unload furniture at the rear of a private residence. He was standing directly behind his truck and had his back to the entrance of a dead-end alley. A garbage truck decided to back into the alley because it could not turn around without going out into a muddy field. The truck did not have a back-up warning device, and vision was obscured to the rear for the driver. A helper was riding on the back of the garbage truck and could see what was going to happen. He waved his arms, yelled at the driver, and did what he could to get the driver's attention, but to no avail. There was a button at his station that he was supposed to use to notify the driver to slow down or to stop; however, the helper was actually a truck driver who was being used as a helper because the company was short on people to load garbage. He knew about the button, but froze when he saw that the trucks were about to collide. The trucks collided, and Employee #1 became pinned between the two; one of his legs was amputated and his diaphragm and lower body were crushed. Employee #1 was immediately evacuated to the local hospital, where he died 4 hours later.

Keywords: BACK-UP ALARM, GARBAGE TRUCK, AMPUTATED, OBSTRUCTED REAR VIEW, COLLISION, INEXPERIENCE, STRUCK BY, BACKING UP, LEG