Inspection Detail

Inspection: 111540779 - Industrial Rubber & Supply Co Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Dosh Tacoma Service Location, Tacoma, Wa

Investigation Summary

At 9:15 a.m. on December 14, 1990, Employee #1 and a coworker were assigned to move three heavy (400 lb) boxes onto pallets, which had been brought in one at a time with a forklift. The boxes were stored on the second floor, one on top of the other. The workers removed the section of guardrail for forklift access. The first two boxes were slid, one at a time, onto the pallet, which was held next to the boxes with the forklift. As the second box was being taken away, they tried to position the third (bottom) box closer to the opening. Employee #1 turned his back toward the opening, where the guardrails had been removed, and began pulling on a piece of twine that was tied around the third box to position it. The twine broke and Employee #1 fell backward through the opening 10 ft 5 1/2 in. to the concrete floor. He suffered a fractured C-5 and C-6 vertebra in the neck and was paralyzed from the chest down, with some movement in one arm.

Keywords: FRACTURE, PARALYSIS, GUARDRAIL, FALL, NECK, VERTEBRA, OPEN-SIDED FLOOR