Inspection Detail

Inspection: 311052518 - Daltile Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Hasbrouck Heights Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 2:57 p.m. on Wednesday, April 9, 2008, an employee was working for a firm that supplied brick, stone, and related construction materials wholesale. He was inside a warehouse that contained granite slabs. He was trying to lift two granite slabs that weighed approximately 1,200 pounds each off an A-frame support. He intended to lift the granite slabs a few inches in order to place a wedge behind them and then install a lifting clamp. He was working with a forklift operator, who was waiting at the controls of a forklift. The employee was standing off to the side of the slabs, as he had been trained to do. The employee stumbled and fell into the "shadow zone" of the granite slabs, bringing the two granite slabs down on top of himself. He fell into another A-frame support, and the falling granite slabs struck him and broke into pieces. He sustained injuries to his left leg and left arm. Emergency medical technicians took the employee to the hospital. He was hospitalized for two days for treatment for his injuries, and he was released from the hospital on Friday, April 11, 2008. He had sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and a torn medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee. The report provides information only on the injuries to his legs and provides no details on the injury to his arm.

Keywords: KNEE, ROCK, ABRASION, MANUAL MAT HANDLING, FALL, STRUCK BY, ARM, FALLING OBJECT, LOST BALANCE, CONTUSION