On November 21, 2002, a 20-year old Hispanic laborer and coworker were removing bridge formwork while working from an elevated truck bed. They had previously been patching a road when the foreman instructed them to begin the removal of bridge formwork. The truck used was designed so the truck bed may act as an aerial lift or as a dump truck. The victim and coworker were in a raised position, approximately 10 feet off the ground in the truck bed and had been working for approximately one hour. The control to raise and lower the truck bed was located near the bulkhead of the truck bed. They attempted to lower the raised truck bed, but it wouldnt move. They called down to another coworker, who told them to try to raise the bed a little, and then try to lower the truck bed. The victim and coworker were standing near the beds bulkhead when one of them tried to raise the truck bed. When they attempted to raise the bed, the truck bed bulkhead was thrust upward and the rear of the truck bed dropped quickly toward the ground. The victim and coworker were crushed between the bulkhead and a bridge beam, and then slid off the angled truck bed to the ground. 911 was called and emergency responders arrived. Both individuals were taken to a local hospital, where the victim died of the injuries sustained in the incident. The coworker survived. Recommendations: (1) Manufacturers of dual use truck beds should consider using separate interlocked control systems to reduce or eliminate the risk of worker injury from unexpected machine motion. (2) Pre-operation safety checklists should be developed for equipment used in work operations. (3) Employers should ensure only trained operators operate aerial lift equipment. (4) Employers should ensure that all aerial lift controls are properly labeled in a language understood by the operator. (5) Employers should conduct a job hazard analysis for existing and new work procedures, and provide employees job hazard analysis training. (6) A health and safety committee should be developed and implemented that includes representatives from both management and union. (7) Ensure that workers who are part of a multilingual workforce comprehend instructions in safe work procedures for the tasks to which they are assigned.


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    Title :

    Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report for Michigan: Hispanic Laborer Dies When Dump Mechanism of Lift Truck Activates and Crushes Him Between the Truck Bed Bulkhead and Bridge Beam


    Publication date :

    2003


    Size :

    11 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English