Inspection Detail

Inspection: 306356171 - T M Cobb

Inspection Information - Office: Fresno District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 7:30 a.m. on August 5, 2003, Employee #1 was working for the manufacturer and distributor of residential window and door products. The elements involved in this case were wood, solid and hollow core, exterior doors. These doors are loaded by hand versus a palletized unit of doors loaded using a forklift. These doors are stacked individually and up-right in the trailers and secured for transport. There were two stacks in this case. These stacks are called hand loads. The first stack was approximately 4-ft deep and contained approximately twenty doors, some of which were hollow core. The second hand stack was approximately 5-ft deep and had approximately thirty doors in it. Several of them were solid core doors. This truck had been loaded elsewhere and sent to this facility for distribution. They had been tied inside the trailer with rope that was attached to the wall of the trailer as opposed to ratchet style tie-down. Employee #1 was preparing to take a load of doors for distribution. When Employee #1 checked the enclosed trailer to be sure that the load was secure, he found that the loads had shifted during transport. Employee #1 entered the trailer and began to stand the doors upright and secure them with the rope. Approximately 10 minutes later a coworker went to the rear of the trailer where Employee #1 was working to tell Employee #1 that he was going to be leaving the yard. The coworker found that hand load number two had fallen onto Employee #1 and Employee #1 was unconscious and pinned under the doors. Employee #1 suffered spinal injuries and was hospitalized.

Keywords: SPINE, CRUSHED, STRUCK BY, TRAILER, FALLING OBJECT, DOOR