Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: STRUCK BY

Section 5(a)(1) of Public Law 91-596, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees, in that employees were exposed to the hazard of being struck by a forklift as a result of a lack of or incomplete forklift operator training: (a)Producers Gin of Hernando - On or about August 31, 2006, employees were attempting to place a 100 gallon diesel tank onto the back of a modular truck for repair. The employer did not ensure that only trained operators were permitted to operate the Caterpillar T40E forklift. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct this hazard: 1) Follow the manufacturer's instructions in the operator's manual for the Caterpillar T40E forklift, 5, Safety Section, "Only trained and authorized personnel may operate this machine. For safe operation, read and follow the Operation and Maintenance Manual furnished with this lift truck and observe the following warnings:", such as, watch out for pedestrians and obstructions. or 2) Require all forklift operators to have the complete forklift operator training as specified in ANSI B56.1-2005, Safety Standard for Low and High Lift Trucks, Section 4.19 "Operator Training". In addition in the same document, in Section 5 "Operating Safety Rules and Practices", the operator is responsible for safe operation of the forklift to exercise particular care that employees may step into the path of travel of the forklift.