Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300111184 - Artech, Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Milwaukee Area Office

Investigation Summary

Three employees were working as a team to assemble a trade fair display. The display consisted of a cylindrical wall of translucent white plastic reinforced with wooden bands at the bottom, around the sides and at the top. The display was about 3.8 meters (12.3 feet) in outside diameter and 3.4 meters (11.2 feet) in height. The employees had assembled the three cylindrical sections, and their next step was to attach four cantilevered signs at positions 90 degrees apart around the top of the cylindrical display. Each sign was about 2.3 meters (7.6 feet) long, 0.9 meters (2.8 feet) high, and 254 millimeters (10 inches) thick. The employees placed a sign horizontally on the forks of a forklift truck. One of the employees stood on the tines of the forklift to steady the sign. A second employee operated the forklift (with the first employee still standing on the tines) to position the sign slightly above with the top of the cylinder wall. The third employee was working from a 1.8-meter (6-foot) stepladder opposite the forklift, guiding the sign as it was lowered into the circular recesses which were at the top of the cylinder. While the sign was held in position, flush with the top of the cylinder, the forklift operator climbed a 2.4-meter (8-foot) fiberglass stepladder (a Keller, 97 Series, Model 978, Type IA, stepladder) and locked the locking device to secure the sign header in place. After this was done, he drilled a vertical hole through the 6-millimeter-thick (0.25-inch-thick) aluminum plate and the 19-millimeter-thick (0.75-inch-thick) plywood while the other two employees held their positions. The hole was for a carriage bolt and wing nut as a backup attachment for the cantilevered sign header. According to the employee on the tines, he was eye-to-eye or no more than a head higher than the forklift operator and could see the operator's head and shoulders above the top of the display. Because of the height of the display and the height of the employee (who was 1.7 meters tall), it is likely that the forklift operator was standing no lower than the first step below the top of the ladder. The forklift operator fell from the ladder and struck his head. He suffered a fractured skull, lost consciousness, and remained in a coma for 3 days. He died of his injuries.

Keywords: FRACTURE, HEAD, UNCONSCIOUSNESS, STEPLADDER, FALL, CONCUSSION