Inspection Detail

Inspection: 119897395 - Fleetwood Motor Homes Of California Inc

Inspection Information - Office: San Bernardino District Office

Investigation Summary

At 10:49 a.m. on April 20, 1995, a crew of six workers including Employee #1, of Fleetwood Motor Homes of California, Inc., was transporting a cartload of 13 floor panels (29 ft by 8 ft by 1.5 in. thick and weighing 275 lb each) from the floor lamination department, building 3, to the floor department, main building 4. A forklift was used to push the cart out of building 3 while four workers were holding and directing the cart. As soon as the rear wheels of the cart were out of building 3, the forklift was disengaged from the load. Four workers at the front were moving the cart and two at the rear were pushing. Employee #1 was at the middle of the load side, walking along with his hand(s) on the load. As the rear swivel wheels of the cart came out of the door on the asphalt slope, the rear end of the cart swung to the side and lifted and the panel load started falling. One floor panel struck Employee #1 on the forehead. Then he was buried under the full load of falling floor panels and killed. The cart was equipped with four 10 in. swivel wheels. The cart frame was 24 ft long, 4 ft wide with a 27 in. wide plywood platform in front and a 21 in. wide empty frame in the rear of the vertical support frame. The load was untied and unsecured, and the sloping asphalt floor added to the instability of the load. The employer was cited a serious violation of T8CCR 3328(a). Employee #1 was 36 years old and had worked 11 years for Fleetwood.

Keywords: PANEL, UNSECURED, WORK RULES, LOAD SHIFT, STRUCK BY, BURIED, FALLING OBJECT, SLOPE, CART, UNSTABLE LOAD