Inspection Detail

Inspection: 308431204 - Gel Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Jacksonville Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 11:55 a.m. on May 3, 2005, Employee #1 was working in the storage area of his employer; a recycling processor that receives cardboard and other recycled materials. They bundle cardboard into bales. The bales are stacked two or three high. The bales are often different sizes, though the baler was programmed to make them 42 in. by 42 in. by 60 in. The bales are not always stacked with the larger bales on the bottom. The bales weigh between 1,600 and 2,000 lbs each. Employee #1 received a call on his cell phone. He went behind a row of stacked cardboard bales to use his telephone. At the same time, the operator of a Caterpillar Forklift, Model Number GP 25K, Type LP, Serial Number AT178 12139, was trying to lift the top bale from an unstable stack that was three bales high. Employee #1 was killed when the top bale fell away from the forklift and onto him. He received multiple injuries including severe lacerations and fractures to his skull and pelvis. His cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma to the head. The forklift operator had not completed the employer's forklift operator training.

Keywords: FRACTURE, WAREHOUSE, WORK RULES, INDUSTRIAL TRUCK, LACERATION, SKULL, STRUCK BY, UNTRAINED, UNSTABLE LOAD