Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300528643 - Agway Store #461367

Inspection Information - Office: Albany Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, age 18, was operating a Nissan 5000 LP-powered forklift, model PF02-024255. He had driven up a steep concrete ramp that was 40.5 in. high at the point where it met the feed storage building. The ramp was bordered on the right side by an exterior wall of the adjacent store; the left side of the ramp was open. There were steel sleeves in the concrete along the open side where it appeared a railing had once been installed. The ramp also had two, 2 in. deep, stress cracks across it. After Employee #1 reached the top of the ramp, he drove through the feed storage building to a side exit. He went through the side exit to an outside storage area to pick up an approximately 1,000 lb load of mulch. He then went back through the feed storage building, maneuvered around some pallets, and attempted to go through the front door and onto the ramp. Employee #1 was driving with the load in front of him even though it blocked his vision. He had been told by his coworkers that he should always drive that way because the forklift would slide down the ramp very fast if he went backward. The truck was halfway out the door and halfway on the ramp when Employee #1 noticed that the corner of the vehicle between the right front and back tires was up against the door jam. He held onto the overhead protection vertical bar and leaned out of the truck to see how to maneuver because he couldn't see with the load in front of him. The wheels of the forklift truck started to roll. Employee #1 applied the brakes, but the brakes locked and the forklift truck continued to roll. He then pulled the emergency brake and the vehicle went into a slide. He removed his hand from the vertical bar to look around the left side for clearance. He started to put his right hand back on the vertical bar but missed, catching it between the bar and the door jamb. This caused the forklift to stop sliding. Employee #1 then reversed the vehicle a short distance to free his hand. He put the forklift truck into neutral and it rolled forward approximately 6 in. until the pallet hit the outside wall of the adjacent store and the vehicle stopped. Employee #1 dismounted and went for help. He sustained a broken bone and the flesh was torn from his right hand.

Keywords: CLEARANCE, FRACTURE, IND TRK OPERATOR, OBSTRUCTED VIEW, WORK RULES, CAUGHT BETWEEN, INDUSTRIAL TRUCK, MECH MAT HANDLING, LOST CONTROL, HAND