Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310813506 - Raphaels Party Rentals

Inspection Information - Office: San Diego District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 1:30 a.m. on October 15, 2007, an employee, a lighting technician working at a jobsite at the Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum, suffered serious injury, when he fell backward off of a lift gate platform. The employee was transported to Scripps Mercy Hospital, where he underwent treatment for two broken ribs and three fractured vertebrae. He was hospitalized for two days. The worksite where the accident occurred was on the dock next to the Midway Aircraft Carrier. The employer was contracted by the Midway Museum to set up lighting and seating for a private party on board the ship. When the party ended at around 11:00 p.m., the employee and coworkers returned to remove the lighting equipment from the ship. The employee's job that day was as a crew leader, working both on board the ship to remove the lighting equipment and on the dock to load it into their truck. Two workers of the Midway Museum operated the lift which took a container from aboard the ship and lowered it onto the dock level. The container was left elevated by the forklift operator so that it was at the same level as the lift gate on the back of the employer's truck, which was approximately 48 inches above the ground. The five workers then moved their equipment out of the container and rolled or pushed it into their truck. The last piece of equipment was a large electric powered pallet jack. The pallet jack was as nearly as large as the lift platform, and there was very little light as the workers on the Midway were turning off their lights for the night. When the employee and coworkers of the employer got the pallet jack off of the container, the forklift operator, who was an employee of the museum, assumed his job was done and backed away from the truck. The employee and coworkers on the truck didn't notice that the forklift had left as they were struggling to get the pallet jack into the packed truck. The employee was closest to the edge of the platform, and he stepped back to get a better purchase on the pallet jack, and he fell or slipped off of the end of the lift gate. He fell about four feet and fractured two ribs and three vertebrae. The employee was hospitalized and treated for his injuries.

Keywords: FRACTURE, SPINE, INDUSTRIAL TRUCK, RIB, FALL, VERTEBRA