Inspection Detail

Inspection: 126762517 - Albertson'S Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Utah Division Of Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

At approximately 3:00 a.m. on August 26, 1996, Employee #1, a warehouse worker, was preparing to unload a trailer. Typically, the picker positioned a hydraulically powered dock plate onto the trailer to be unloaded. The dock plate consisted of a metal plate set into the floor of the warehouse adjacent to where a trailer would back in. The plate was hinged to the floor at the end furthest from the edge of the dock. In neutral, the plate was level with the floor; to accommodate trailers of different heights, it could be moved up or down so that the outside edge of the plate was level without the trailer being unloaded. When Employee #1 arrived at the dock with the trailer to be unloaded , she found a loaded pallet on that dock. In addition, the dock plate was lower than floor level. The coworker who had left the pallet, began to raise the dock plate to floor level, which allowed the pallet to slide off the plate. The dock plate was raised too high and the opening strap for the trailer door became pinned between the trailer door and the lip of the plate. Employee #1 stepped between the dock plate and the trailer door with one foot, reached down to grasp the strap, and attempted to pull it free. It was pinned too tightly, so she told the coworker at the controls to lift the plate further, thinking that this might free the strap. As the dock plate rose, Employee #1's leg became pinned between the lip and the trailer door. A tractor was then hooked to the trailer to pull it away from the dock to free Employee #1. When this was done, the tractor backed into the trailer and the trailer was pushed further back on Employee #1. She sustained a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula of her right leg.

Keywords: CLEARANCE, FRACTURE, PINNED, WORK RULES, TRAILER TRUCK, CAUGHT BETWEEN, OFF LOADING, LOADING DOCK, BACKING UP, LEG