Inspection Detail

Inspection: 309595585 - Phoenix Transportation Systems Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Tarrytown Area Office

Investigation Summary

On September 12, 2006, Employee #1 was working as a truck driver for a local trucking company. He drove a tractor trailer to a compost yard to pick up mulch. The mulch was being put in his truck by a front end loader. The operator of the front end loader operator took the mulch from a pile located in front of the tractor trailer and dumped it in the trailer. When the operator of the front end loader went to get another bucket full of mulch, he noticed, for the first time, that the back door of the trailer was open. He had not noticed that the back door of the trailer was open when he got the first bucket of mulch. He did not see the driver anywhere and asked others to check the bathroom and a nearby Dunkin' Donuts for Employee #1. In the meantime, he started to dig through the pile of mulch with his hands. Other employees came and aided in the digging, and Employee #1 was eventually found under the mulch. He apparently was in the trailer as the first load of mulch was being dumped into his truck, and he was buried by the mulch. He was asphyxiated, and he died as a result of his injuries. The operator of the front end loader speculated that the door may have been open only a little to allow Employee #1 to get inside the trailer, in which case the driver could not have seen the open door from his angle. He said he believed the door may have swung open after the first load was dumped. It wasn't until he picked up the second load that he noticed the door was open and sensed something was wrong. The trailer was positioned right in front of a ramp that was used by the front end loader to dump mulch into the trailer. OSHA was told that it was common practice that, once a trailer was positioned there, it was ready to be loaded. OSHA spoke to other truck drivers from the company and was told that the fatally injured truck driver probably went into the trailer to lay down a tarp at the front of the trailer, so that the front of the trailer would not have to be cleaned after the mulch was offloaded. Apparently, the truck driver never communicated to the operator of the front end loader that he was going into the trailer.

Keywords: ASPHYXIATED, FRONT END LOADER, LOADER BUCKET, OBSTRUCTED VIEW, TRAILER TRUCK, BURIED, TRUCK DRIVER