Inspection Detail

Inspection: 312430515 - Express Marble & Granite, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Van Nuys District Office

Investigation Summary

On December 8, 2008, Employee #1, a marble stone fabricator, was assisting two coworkers unload slabs of limestone from a truck. One coworker, who was also the employer, was operating a forklift, which had a special attachment for lifting stone slabs. The delivery truck was parked in the street in front of the stone fabrication building, and had a boom-type lifting device mounted to it. As the driver of the delivery truck unloaded bundles of slabs, he placed them on a metal "A" frame holder, which was also in the street. The employer then used the forklift to remove each slab, one at a time, from the "A" Frame holder, while Employee #1 and the other coworker were located on either side of the slab to hold them steady during transport from the street to the storage area behind the building. While one of the slabs was being transported from the street to the storage area behind the building, the forklift began to increase its speed and ran into Employee #1's right leg. He was knocked down and the wheels of the forklift ran over his right foot. Employee #1 was taken to Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, where he was hospitalized and treated for a broken right foot and fractured left foot. He underwent six surgeries, where a medical team inserted screws into his right foot and one surgical procedure to his left foot.

Keywords: FRACTURE, EQUIPMENT FAILURE, CAUGHT BETWEEN, INDUSTRIAL TRUCK, MANUAL MAT HANDLING, STRUCK BY, RUN OVER, MOTOR VEHICLE, FOOT