Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: LIFTING

Nevada Revised Statute 618.375(1): Duties of employers. Every employer shall furnish employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his or her employees. The employer failed to furnish employment and a place of employment that was free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his or her employees with regard to struck-by and crush hazards posed by materials that are not handled and placed in a safe manner. Employees were using a rough-terrain forklift (RTFL) to load highway guardrails onto a flatbed truck. The flatbed truck was parked parallel to the roadway but on an approximate 10 degree slope, making one side of the truck bed higher than the other. The method used by the employees involved lowering the load to a height slightly above a previously-placed guardrail stack on the bed of the truck, and then attempting to push the load off the forks and onto the stack, rather than setting the load down securely on a level surface and withdrawing the forks from under the load. At the time of the accident, the work was taking place along the southbound side of Interstate 15 near mile marker 55 in Las Vegas, NV. Two employees were using a JCB 930 Rough Terrain Forklift (RTFL) to load guardrails onto a flatbed truck. The west side of the truck was higher than the east side due to the approximate 10-degree slope on which the truck was parked. Employee #1 was operating the RTFL to move a stack of approximately 60 guardrail pieces onto the flat bed of the truck. The load was lowered until the forks were slightly above the previously-placed guardrail stack. At that point, Employees #1 and #2 then stood on the bed of the truck and attempted to manually push the guardrails off the forks and onto the truck. Employee #2's side of the stack cleared the forks first. The stack became unstable and started to tip or slide over towards the east edge of the truck bed. Employee #1 attempted to stop the rails from moving, and either jumped or fell off the truck bed in the process. As a result, he landed on the ground and was subsequently buried under and crushed by the falling guardrail segments. He was pronounced dead at the scene. One feasible means of abatement is to follow the procedures for lifting and placing loads included in the Association of Equipment Manufacturers Safety Manual for Operating and Maintenance Personnel for Rough Terrain Forklifts, 1985. References: Association of Equipment Manufacturers - Safety Manual for Operating and Maintenance Personnel for Rough Terrain Forklifts - 1985. Page 29 "Lifting and Placing the Load" - "The chosen landing location should be level, both front to back and side to side." Page 30 "Lifting and Placing the Load cont'd" - "Lower the load gently until the weight of the load was securely resting on the landing point and the forks were free to be retracted from under the load."