Mobile Equipment Accidents 6

Mobile Equipment Accidents #6

This page was last updated on  05/06/2010

UPDATE Worker dies after backhoe accident 
Thursday, May 22, 2003 By ASHANTI M. ALVAREZ STAFF WRITER 
WEST PATERSON – A construction worker accidentally run over by a backhoe on a work site this week has died, police said. Juan Pupo, 53, of Paterson died at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center on Tuesday, one day after a fellow construction worker ran him over with a backhoe, police said. Pupo had sustained severe injuries to his pelvis and leg. Police said he was conscious but seemed to be in shock before paramedics took him to the hospital. Pupo was walking alongside a backhoe driven by Stanley Machuszek, 35, of Totowa when he tripped and fell underneath the vehicle’s wheels, police said. Authorities said Pupo was working on a construction project at 271 Overmount Ave. Felix Esposito, the borough’s code enforcement official, said the work site would eventually be a small commercial strip mall. Police earlier this week said it was a residential construction site. Pupo was working for SNM Contractors of Totowa, a subcontractor of Tower Ridge Company, LLC, Esposito said. That company has a post office box in Pine Brook. The company’s head, Patrick Dellacave, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Police found that the backhoe had not been registered with the state Department of Motor Vehicles since 1995 and gave the contractor two summonses. Police and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the accident. 

Worker badly injured after getting caught under wheels of backhoe 
Tuesday, May 20, 2003 
WEST PATERSON – A construction worker was seriously injured Monday when he was accidentally run over by a backhoe, police said. Juan Pupo, 54, of Paterson was working on a residential construction project at Overmount Avenue and Rifle Camp Road at 9:53 a.m. He was walking next to a backhoe, Detective Capt. Robert Reda said, when he became caught underneath the left wheels. The backhoe driver told police that Pupo somehow tripped. He was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center. “He’s got injuries to his left leg and pelvis,” Reda said. “He’s in bad shape.” Reda said the accident is still under investigation. Officials from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration went to the scene several hours after the accident occurred, an OSHA spokesman said. Police wrote the construction company, SNM Contracting, two summonses because the backhoe was uninsured and had not been registered since 1995, Reda said. “A lot of times these vehicles are off the road,” he said, explaining how the vehicle’s missing registration went unchecked.

Indonesian driver crushed by heavy machinery
In KUANTAN, an Indonesian driver was believed killed after the forklift driven by him, to lift timber, overturned and crushed him in a rubberwood factory in Kuala Kenong, near Lipis, yesterday. Pahang CID Deputy Chief Supt Mokhtar Mohd Ali said the victim, only known as Landriadi, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Lipis Hospital. In the 9 am incident, the victim was believed to have driven the forklift along the hilly area and lost control. “The machine overturned and fell to the foot of the hill,” he told reporters here Monday. Mokhtar said several workers managed to pull the victim, who suffered severe bodily injuries, out from the mangled wreck. Police have classified the case as sudden death and ruled out foul play. 

Worker slips, falls, is killed by truck
By SUZANNAH GONZALES, Times Staff Writer
HERNANDO – A worker for FDS Disposal Inc. was killed Thursday afternoon when he jumped off a garbage truck, slipped and fell to the ground and then was run over by the truck, authorities said. The accident happened in the Hernando City Heights neighborhood east of U.S. 41 between Inverness and Hernando. The Florida Highway Patrol, which is handling the investigation, did not release the names or ages of the victim or others involved. The man’s next of kin had not yet been notified, an FHP trooper said Thursday afternoon. While one man drove the truck, two others – including the victim – rode on the back, FHP trooper Jamie Mulverhill said. The man jumped off when the truck was near Hawaii Lane and Arkansas Terrace. Dispatchers received the call at 2:17 p.m., according to Citrus County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Gail Tierney. The first deputy arrived seven minutes later. Following the accident, sheriff’s officials cordoned off about half a block of Arkansas while the white garbage truck remained parked on Hawaii. A covered body and a red cap lay on the ground in front of it. It was “a total accident,” said a tearful FDS Disposal Inc. owner, Ina Ray, who was at the scene. “Just a total, stupid accident.” 

Man crushed to death by steamroller in freak accident
By Donal Hickey
A MAN was yesterday crushed to death in a freak accident involving a steamroller. The Health and Safety Authority launched an investigation after 54-year-old Tom Flaherty, of Keel, Castlemaine, Co Kerry, died while carrying out roadworks for Kerry County Council. The accident occurred at Lougher, Annascaul, around 10.30am. A number of men were working on the road and it is believed the steamroller rolled back dragging Mr Flaherty underneath. Traffic was delayed for about an hour as emergency services dealt with the accident, the second of its kind on Kerry roads in the past two years. Mr Flaherty is survived by his wife, Eileen, three sons and a daughter. He was described locally as a hard-working, family man who was well respected. Meanwhile, an 18-year-old woman was killed when her car collided with a truck at Lea Road, Portarlington, Co Laois. Two other women in the car, both in their late teens, were seriously injured. The crash happened around 10pm on Tuesday night. One of Dublin’s busiest roads was closed yesterday for a number of hours after two trucks, one containing nitric acid, crashed. Dublin fire brigade, the Hazardous Chemical Unit and gardaí attended the scene on Ashbourne Road.

Close call for refuse worker
By Nigel Regan (News from 2003-05-14 Edition)
A WASTE management worker is lucky to be alive today after being hit by an eight-foot by eight-foot steel door attached to a refuse truck. The accident occurred shortly after 9am yesterday when a truck was dumping its load at the Tynes Bay Incinerator. A source close to the incident told the Bermuda Sun: “There’s a possibility that the retention device on the door of the dumpster truck wasn’t closed properly.” The door hit a 48 year-old Pembroke man who had been working on an adjacent truck. The man was treated for contusions and lacerations at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and subsequently released. The incident is being investigated but our source said it is likely to result in changes at the incinerator whereby trucks dump their loads at the far end of the hall, where there would be no room for anyone to get in the way. Our source said: “I think they’ve learnt something by this. When you think about it, whenever a dump truck dumps there’s a lot of debris around and there’s always the potential for someone to get injured — the accident really fits into that kind of category.”

Construction worker killed in accident 
05/13/2003 
A construction worker was killed on Monday in an industrial accident in Kingston. Kingston police said Neil Metcalf, 62, of Stillwater, died when a 12-foot steel I-beam fell on him. The accident occurred at the site of the former Mack Truck Co. building, 135 S. Wyoming Ave., at 1:06 p.m. The building is being renovated for new occupancy. Police said Metcalf died after the I-beam he was welding shifted and fell, striking him in the face and chest. The I-beam was being placed over a doorway approximately 12 feet high and was being held by a forklift. Police said one side of the I-beam was welded, and the weld broke lose, causing the beam to fall on Metcalf, who was on a ladder. Metcalf was transported by Kingston Emergency Medical Services personnel to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, where he later died from the injuries. Coroner Dr. George Hudock performed an autopsy at 6:15 p.m. and ruled that Metcalf died from multiple traumatic injuries. Police are not filing any charges and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been called to investigate. 

Police, state probe warehouse center death – Food Services employee struck by trailer identified as 59-year-old Renton man
2003-05-10 by Bruce Rommel Journal Reporter
KENT — An employee fatally injured in an accident at a warehousing center was identified Friday as Renton resident Bernard Lee Ottesen, 59. Ottesen was pronounced dead about 6:45 p.m. Thursday after he was struck by a trailer that was being moved in the lot at Food Services of America, 18430 E. Valley Highway, said an investigator for the King County medical examiner’s office. Kent firefighters and King County Medic One paramedics attempted to revive the Renton man, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy Friday indicated he suffered rib and spinal fractures, resulting in severe heart, lung and spinal cord injuries, the medical examiner’s investigator said. Gary Odegard, vice president of corporate communications for Food Services of America, said Ottesen was a warehouse employee who had been with the company for 19 years. Ottesen has a wife and an adult son in Arizona, Odegard said. Kent police are investigating the accident. The state Department of Labor and Industries also will investigate. The agency routinely reviews any fatal accident in the workplace to determine if the employer is in compliance with worker safety regulations, said Steve Pierce, an L&I spokesman. Odegard said the company also is investigating the accident, which occurred in an area where equipment and vehicles are frequently being moved. “The mystery is why this happened, especially in broad daylight,” Odegard said. “Equipment is moving through there all the time and everybody who works there is familiar with that.” There are striped safety areas where employees are supposed to walk. Odegard said, and Ottesen was in one of those marked safety areas. Odegard said the distribution center is inspected regularly and always exceeds worker safety and food handling standards because of the company’s ongoing training program. Several hundred employees work at the center. The worker’s death Thursday was the first fatality there since the complex opened in the late 1980s, Odegard said. 

Man dies at Rio’s Argyle diamond mine 
A WORKER at Rio Tinto’s huge Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia died today when two haul trucks collided. The accident happened about 5am (WST) at the world’s biggest diamond mine, 120 km south-west of Kununurra in WA’s far north. Inspectors were travelling to the mine to start investigating the causes of the incident, said a spokesman for the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources. The man’s death is the third mining fatality in WA this year. On January 27, a female pit technician died after a rock fall at Barrick Australia’s Lawler’s gold mine, 50 km south west of Leinster. Just 12 days before, a male mine worker died in a loader accident in decline at Western Metals lead and zinc mine known as Kapok, near Fitzroy Crossing. 

Police investigate death of S.J. recycling plant worker
By the Mercury News
Police are investigating the death early Wednesday of a woman crushed by a forklift at a recycling center where she worked. But officials say it appears to have been accidental. The coroner’s office identified the woman as Carmen Beltran, 34, of San Jose. She was struck about 4:25 a.m. by a forklift driven by a fellow employee in the GreenTeam of San Jose recycling warehouse at 525 Charles St., said San Jose police Sgt. Steve Dixon. The driver, whom police would not identify, had a load of material and apparently did not see Beltran as she walked down a corridor, Dixon said. “He had some bales of recycled material on the front of the forklift that apparently blocked his view,” Dixon said. “It just looked like he didn’t see anybody there. Nothing so far makes it look like anything other than an accident.” 

Construction worker critically injured in accident on the job
By ABC13 Eyewitness News
(4/29/03) — The Harris County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a Tuesday morning accident at a northwest Harris County construction site that left one worker critically injured. The man suffered a leg injury when an earth-moving truck backed up over his leg at the site on Hollister and Blue Creek Ranch. He was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital by Lifeflight and at last report was listed in critical condition. 

UPDATE Failure to apply brake caused death
April 29, 2003 19:13 
A LORRY driver who died under the wheels of his runaway vehicle had failed to apply the parking brake, an inquest heard. Andrew Bone, 29, of Carraways, Witham, was delivering scaffolding to a site in London when his lorry began rolling towards rush-hour traffic. Mr Bone, who was employed by Essex-based Pole Position, died from multiple injuries in The Strand on July 23 last year while trying to stop the fully loaded Mercedes lorry careering into the path of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. Westminster coroner Dr Paul Knapman, who had ordered a police investigation into the vehicle’s condition, recorded a verdict of accidental death at the inquest yesterday after deciding Mr Bone’s error was to blame. “The death was caused by Mr Bone not putting the parking brake on. It is as tragic as that. If the family were looking for negligence by other people, that has not been forthcoming,” he said. “On the evidence we have it does seem the most likely explanation that the parking brake was not applied.” Mr Bone was seen by fellow workers running alongside the lorry trying unsuccessfully to reapply the trailer brake, then trying to disconnect a vital braking airline before the lorry suddenly jack-knifed, crushing him under the wheels. His death left widow Cheryl to raise their four-year-old daughter Kelsey and a second child born eight months after Mr Bone was killed. The inquest had heard from scaffolder Bradley Whitnell, from Bow, east London, who had helped Mr Bone disconnect the trailer brake by hitting it with an eight-foot length of timber. “I gave it a clunk and it started rolling. He tried the brake, he pumped it three times and he’s running beside the trailer, telling everyone to move back,” he said. Mr Whitnell revealed the same trailer had suddenly rolled forward two months earlier during a separate job, crashing into two parked black cabs. Pole Position manager David Lunn, from Chingford, told the inquest the earlier incident had been put down to driver error. He added the vehicle had been checked every six to eight weeks and no defects were found. Accident investigator Pc William Wright said the handbrake had not been on the lorry when it had been checked after Mr Bone’s death. Speaking after the inquest, Mrs Bone said she and his family had been devastated by his death. Mrs Bone was two months’ pregnant at the time of the fatal accident and has since given birth to the couple’s second child, Tierney. “At the end of the day he died trying to save the lives of a lot of people. It would have been his 30th birthday this year. It has been really hard with two children,” she said. “However, at least I have them – it has helped me cope. He was a wonderful man. His family have been great.”

Forklift driver hurt in warehouse 
KEARNY – A forklift driver was hospitalized yesterday after being pinned against metal shelving in a warehouse, according to police reports. Richard Howell, 35, of Newark, was driving a forklift at Uncommon Carrier on Hackensack Avenue in the River Terminal at 12:54 p.m. when he got too close to metal shelving and his hip became pinned between the shelving and the forklift, reports said. Howell complained of pain in his hip and the Kearny Volunteer Emergency Squad transported him to University Hospital in Newark for treatment. His injuries did not appear to be serious, reports said. 

Truck driver killed while trying to repair truck in Pompano
By Jaime Hernandez Staff Writer April 17, 2003
POMPANO BEACH · The driver of a semitrailer-truck died Wednesday afternoon when the rig ran over him while he and a mechanic worked on the vehicle’s brakes, authorities said. James Conrow, 48, of Fort Lauderdale was driving to Pilot Steel Inc., his employer, with a load of steel beams and had turned onto Northwest 22nd Court from Powerline Road when the vehicle broke down, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said. Conrow radioed Pilot Steel, located a half-mile down the road, for help, and a mechanic was sent to repair the rig. After fixing the brakes, the mechanic got into the cab and tried moving the truck, apparently unaware that Conrow was near the rear of the trailer, authorities said. A witness told deputies that Conrow slipped and fell near the rear axle, and the wheels crushed him. Conrow was pronounced dead at the scene. The sheriff’s office deemed the death an accident and said it was unlikely that charges would be filed. Co-workers described Conrow as a family man who had worked at Pilot Steel for more than 10 years. Efforts to reach Conrow’s family Wednesday night were unsuccessful.

Truck lot accident victim identified
ONTARIO — A man who died Tuesday when he was crushed between two trailers at a trucking yard has been identified as 23-year-old Mario Alberto Campos of Hacienda Heights, San Bernardino County Supervising Deputy Coroner Randy Emon said. Campos was working in a trucking yard in the 3800 block of Guasti Road about 5:50 p.m. Tuesday when another worker backed a tractor-trailer into him, pinning Campos between two trailers, Emon said. Campos was taken by ambulance to San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland, where he was pronounced dead at 8:35 p.m., Emon said. The Ontario Police Department is investigating the incident. 

Garden River man killed in skidder accident
Sault Star Staff Thursday, April 24, 2003 – 09:00 
Local News – A Garden River First Nation man is dead following an industrial accident Tuesday morning. Aaron Lawrence Jones, 41, was part of a work crew clearing brush near Ball Park Road in the community just east of Sault Ste. Marie. At about 11:30 a.m., a skidder that was parked on a grade rolled backwards and struck Jones, standing near the rear of the tractor. There was no operator in the skidder at the time of the accident, according to the Anishinabek Police Service. Jones was taken to Sault Area Hospital, where he died of his injuries. The incident is being investigated by the OPP Northeast Region’s technical identification services unit, OPP technical accident investigation services and the Ministry of Labour. Jones was one of a crew clearing land for the extension of a gravel pit used to supply the Highway 17 construction project, said Anishinabek Police Service Staff Sgt. John Syrette.

Woman dies in forklift horror Apr 23 2003
by Nicky Tabarn, Liverpool Echo
A WOMAN died after she was knocked over and trapped under a forklift truck. The 51-year-old died instantly after the accident on the main shopping street in Southport. Police, fire and ambulance were called to Lord Street just after 10am today (Wednesday, April 23). An ambulance spokesman said: “A 51-year-old woman was trapped under a vehicle. She died at the scene.” Police said the woman was run over by the truck outside the town hall. A spokesman said: “A woman, believed to be local, became trapped under a forklift truck. “Police, fire and ambulance were all at the scene to try and free her. “The health and safety executive are now looking into the incident.” The fire service sent a special rescue unit to help free the woman. A spokesman said: “We sent two appliances after receiving reports that somebody was trapped under a vehicle. We also had a special rescue unit which has specialised equipment.” The forklift truck driver was taken to Southport and hospital suffering from shock. Val Rimmer, 48, rushed to help the woman as she lay underneath the vehicle. Mrs Rimmer said: “They were the worst injuries I have ever seen. I didn’t know if she was alive. “She was lying between the back wheels. I could see her arms and I tried to find her pulse, but she was unconscious. “I held her hand and waited until the emergency services arrived.” 

Man dies in forklift mishap
A report will be prepared for the coroner after a man died in a forklift accident at a scout camp at Appin, north-west of Wollongong, late yesterday. Police say the 25-year-old Sydney man was driving a forklift along a bitumen road at the Cataract Scout Camp when he lost control, causing the forklift to tip over. They say despite the best efforts of witnesses, the man was trapped in the crash and died at the scene. The forklift has been taken to Moss Vale police station for mechanical examination.

UPDATE Firm fined £8,000 over near escape
by ALISON BELLAMY 
A CONSTRUCTION company was fined £8,000 after a dumper truck overturned on a building site in Leeds. A man driving the truck escaped uninjured. Morrison Construction admitted putting labourer Anthony Mongey at risk during work at Headingley Water Treatment Work on May 16 last year. The city magistrates were told that Mr Mongey, 59, was working as a sub-contractor for the national company, which was building a concrete water tank at Yorkshire Water’s site at Otley Road. The work was being carried out in partnership with Earth-Tech Engineering. Mr Mongey drove the eight-tonne truck on a one- in-four gradient, a manoeuvre that was against safety advice. It overturned. He was taken to the accident and emergency department at Leeds General Infirmary but was uninjured and returned to work four hours later. Sarah Hague, HM inspector for Health and Safety, said: “There was certainly potential for a fatal accident here. Dumpers on gradient feature prominently on accidents of this sort. “The company has co-operated fully with the HSE investigation.” Paul Burnley, for Morrison Construction, which has 100 sites nationally and employs 1,900 people plus 200 sub-contractors, said: “Mr Mongey, who has 40 years’ experience in the construction industry, was unscratched. Although a sub-contractor, he had been on a full induction course. “Despite safety training , procedures were not followed. “The company was obviously shocked at what happened. An internal investigation was held and this incident is now used in training sessions.” The firm was also ordered to pay £1,409 costs. 

Worker recovering after Lupin mine mishap 
WebPosted Apr 23 2003 07:07 AM MDT 
CAMBRIDGE BAY, Nunavut – Nunavut’s Workers Compensation Board is investigating an accident at the Lupin gold mine. Sylvester Wong, the chief mining inspector with the board, says a vehicle operator drove into a open hole and fell about 10 metres. Wong would not give the worker’s name. He says the worker suffered cuts, three broken ribs and a bruised left lung. Wong says the investigation is the first step in preventing such accidents from happening. “That’s one of the key purposes of the investigation to find out what went wrong so they can take corrective measures,” he says. Wong says the injured worker is recovering. The Lupin gold mine is operated by Echo Bay Mines about 300 kilometres southeast of Kugluktuk. 

UPDATE BOMBARDIER INC. FINED $225,000 FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY VIOLATIONS 
Bombardier was fined $225,000 on April 9, 2003, for three violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in a serious leg injury to an employee. On Aug. 24, 2001, a forklift operator was in the process of transporting compressed gas cylinders when a cylinder struck the ramp of a rack that was attached to a forklift. The ramp struck the worker below the right knee. A Ministry of Labour investigation revealed the worker had not been sufficiently trained in a safe procedure for moving cylinders and that following the accident the worker drove himself from the plant to the hospital. The accident occurred in Bombardier’s plant on Montreal Street in Thunder Bay. Following a four-day trial, Bombardier was found guilty, as an employer, of: failing to ensure cylinders for compressed gas were moved in a manner that did not endanger the safety of the worker, as required by Section 45 of the regulations for industrial establishments. This was contrary to Section 25(1)(c) of the act; failing to provide the worker with information, instruction and supervision on the safe movement of the compressed gas cylinders. This was contrary to Section 25(2)(a) of the act; and failing to take the reasonable precaution of providing appropriate medical attention to the injured worker at the workplace, and/or failing to provide transportation for the injured worker to a hospital. This was contrary to Section 25(2)(h) of the act. Justice of the Peace Gordon Buterin, of the Ontario Court of Justice in Thunder Bay, fined the company $125,000 on the first count and $50,000 on each of the second and third counts. A supervisor was found guilty of failing to take the reasonable precaution of providing appropriate medical attention to the injured worker and/or failing to provide transportation for the injured worker to a hospital. This was contrary to Section 27(2)(c) of the act. Justice of the Peace Buterin fined the supervisor $5,000. In addition, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge on the fines against the company and supervisor, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. 

Reversing refuse collection vehicle kills pedestrian
A reversing refuse collection vehicle has fatally injured a senior citizen in an Edinburgh street. According to one account Mr Frank Dingwall, 83, was struck as he was walking behind the vehicle as it reversed around a corner in Liberton. 

Fatal accident at Hull docks
It is reported that a lorry driver has died of crush injuries in an industrial accident at Queen Elizabeth Dock in Hull. According to one account the man sustained injury when he was crushed between the lorry’s load and a wall. The facility is operated by Associated British Ports. 

Forklift injures worker at coffin sales company
An employee at a coffin sales company was critically injured when a forklift fell on top of him Monday morning. Hallandale Beach police spokesman Andrew Casper said police received a call at about 11 a.m. Monday and was told a man was trapped under a manual forklift. The incident occurred inside Cardinal Casket Sales on Northwest Sixth Avenue. Police had not released the victim’s name as of late Monday. He was described as being about 19 years old. Casper said the victim was transported to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood with head injuries and was listed in critical condition.

UPDATE Berks County mushroom plant fined for worker’s death
April 05, 2003 
A mushroom plant where a worker died when he was scooped up by a front-end loader and dumped into a compost grinder has been fined more than $12,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, officials said. Richard D. Kielbasa, 51, had been collecting samples from a compost pile when the accident happened Nov. 28, investigators said. OSHA has issued two citations to Ontelaunee Farms Inc., one for general disregard for safety conditions and another for failing to have protective equipment and reflective clothing for workers, OSHA investigator Robert Fink said. The Muhlenberg Township plant was issued $12,600 in penalties. The plant has corrected the violations since the accident, Fink said. Plant owner Giorgi Mushroom Company has appealed the citations and a hearing is pending, Fink said. A person answering the telephone at Ontelaunee Farms on Saturday said plant officials had no comment on the citations. Police have determined that the death was an accident, and the investigation is complete. Kielbasa, a 24-year employee and assistant general manager, was collecting samples from 40-tall piles of compost. “It is possible he could have been bent over trying to get samples,” police chief Robert Flanagan said. “We think it (the loader) hit him, knocked him down and knocked him out, then scooped him up.” Steam coming off the mushroom compost hindered the visibility of the driver of the front-end loader, Fink said. If the additional safety measures had been taken, the accident could have been prevented, investigators said. “The equipment and clothing doesn’t always eliminate the hazard, but it reduces the probability of an accident occurring,” Fink said. Information from: Reading Eagle

UPDATE Jury awards $13.9 million to worker run over by truck
April 3, 2003, 6:51 PM EST
FREEHOLD, N.J. — A Monmouth County jury awarded $13.9 million to a man and his wife after finding his employer’s negligence was largely responsible for an accident in which he was run over by a truck and blinded in one eye. The verdict for David H. and Doris Green, of Farmingdale, is believed to be one of the largest personal injury awards in the state, their lawyers, Angelo and Robert Bianchi, a father and son team, said Thursday. The jury awarded a total of $14.5 million, but the jury reduced it because it found that David Green was 5 percent at fault. The remainder was assessed to Stavola Management Co. Inc. Stavola lawyer Joseph D. Deal said the company would probably seek a new trial or a reduction in the award. He had argued that Green and the truck driver were at fault. The driver settled for $500,000 before trial, Robert Bianchi said. The verdict was delivered March 27 after a seven-week trial before state Superior Court Judge Ronald Lee Reisner. Green was crushed by an asphalt truck in 1996 while walking at an asphalt plant operated by Stavola in Howell. Green, who was 40 at the time, had worked there 12 years and operated a front-end loader, Bianchi said. The Greens sued in 1998. The truck was backing up, but two police officers testified that its backup beeper could not be heard above the other noise at the plant, Bianchi said. In addition to losing sight in one eye, Green suffered multiple fractures, lost some hearing and can no longer work, his lawyers said. They argued that Stavola failed to protect its workers because the site lacked signs, crosswalks, barriers and mirrors at the loading area. 

Friends, Co-Workers Can’t Save Man Pinned Under Lift
April 1, 2003
DAVIE, Fla. — An industrial accident Monday night in Davie claimed the life of a worker at a Nations Rent location. When rescue workers arrived at the equipment rental company in the 6500 block of state Road 84, they found the 42-year-old victim pinned under a scissors lift and a truck. His co-workers tried to help, but could not free the man from under the lift. He died at the scene. 

Man critical following accident 
Friday, March 28, 2003 NEWS staff report
Shelbyville Police on Thursday afternoon investigated a work-related accident that caused an Indianapolis man to be airlifted to a hospital for serious injuries. Ralph D. Butrum, 31, was flown by Lifeline Helicopter to Methodist Hospital following a forklift accident at Sparks Automotive Sales, 311 Habig St. According to the police report, Butrum, who is not employed with Sparks, had gone to work with a friend, Ronald D. Orebaugh, 43, also of Indianapolis. The two were attempting to move an engine cradle they had taken out of a Dodge Neon when the accident occurred, around 3:47 p.m. Orebaugh said at one point Butrum had been sitting on the back guard of the forks in order to steady the cradle. According to the report, Orebaugh looked away for a moment to reach for his sandwich, and when he looked back, both Butrum and the engine cradle were gone. He almost drove over Butrum, but stopped the forklift in time, Orebaugh told police. He found Butrum on the floor with a pool of blood under his head. Medics transported Butrum to Major Hospital. He was later transferred to Methodist Hospital for skull fractures on both sides of his head, and broken ribs, vertebrae and pelvis. Staff at Methodist told local paramedic Tom Laughlin that Butrum is in critical condition, but he is expected to live. Shelbyville Police administered sobriety tests; Orebaugh tested 0.062 on the portable breath test. Drug and alcohol testing also is being performed at the Indiana State Police Lab. Orebaugh admitted he smoked marijuana and drank beer and whiskey the night before the accident, according to the report. 

Forklift operator dies in warehouse accident 
Thursday, March 27, 2003 
SANTA FE SPRINGS — A 40- year-old Hawthorne man was killed Wednesday after he was pinned by a forklift he was operating when the machine overturned on top of him at a warehouse here, officials said. Authorities were withholding the victim’s name until his relatives could be notified. The victim was employed by Triangle Network. The accident happened shortly before 11:25 p.m. at a company at 12816 Shoemaker Ave. Whittier police were called following the accident. Investigators from Cal-OSHA were investigating the cause of the accident, said Dean Fryer, Cal-OSHA spokesman. “We’re looking at the forklift to see if there were any mechanical malfunctions or if any safety procedures were not followed,’ Fryer said.

Forklift truck fatal accident
It is reported that Robert Mann, 59, has sustained fatal injuries in a workplace accident involving a forklift truck at a Welshpool, Dyfed-Powys, scrapyard. Mr Mann was taken to hospital but succumbed to his injuries there.

UPDATE Fatally injured worker used truck’s forks to gain access
A fish processing company worker used a patently unsafe method of work to tend to large bags of fishmeal at his employer’s premises. In December 2001 David Cobban accessed the stored product using the raised forks of a forklift truck from which he fell through four metres, sustaining fatal head injuries. Mr Cobban’s employer, United Fish of Aberdeen, admitted and was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £16,000 at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, failing to provide a safe system of work for Mr Cobban. HSE’s John Radcliffe commented that the “biggest cause of serious and fatal accidents in industry is from working from height and transport in the workplace, the two most common factors of serious and fatal incidents which were present in this case.” Forfab, based in Rothes, Moray, the forklift truck driver provider, was fined £4,000 in respect of failing to provide adequate training.

City worker injured by sanitation truck
Daniel Borunda El Paso Times
A city sanitation department employee was seriously hurt when he was run over by a garbage truck Thursday morning, officials said. Roberto Rodriguez was walking in a parking lot at 4:50 a.m. when he was clipped by a garbage truck, fell to the ground and was run over by a truck tire at a sanitation facility, 7969 San Paulo, officials said. Rodriguez, 31, was in critical condition at Thomason Hospital, police said. 

Lorry driver crushed to death Mar 20 2003
By Mike Hornby Daily Post Staff
A MERSEYSIDE lorry driver was crushed to death when he was caught between a fork lift truck and quarry equipment. The 53-year-old father-of-one from Whitby, Ellesmere Port, died at Cavendish Mill in Stoney Middleton, Derbyshire, on Tuesday afternoon. Police and the Health and Saf et y Executive have launched an investigation into the incident which happened on the premises of Glebe Mining. It is thought that the man was injured at around 11.20am at the site’s limestone processing plant, close to the quarry. It is understood that he had left his vehicle prior to the accident. Police said that the man, who has not been named, was airlifted to the Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Royal Hospital and pronounced dead shortly after arrival. It is understood that he was married and had a daughter. A team of HSE site inspectors arrived at the scene yesterday morning and sealed off the area although much of the quarry remained open for operations. Derbyshire Police have ruled out any suspicious circumstances but will remain in close contact with the HSE while interviews with witnesses are carried out. A HSE spokesman said: “It is believed that the man was crushed between a fork lift truck and a caterpillar load-ing shovel. “An investigation with the police is being carried out at the scene and interviews with witnesses will take place over the next few weeks. “This is a very delicate investigation and it is too early to say how the man came to be involved in this accident. A Derbyshire police spokesman said the death was not being treated as suspicious. A post mortem would be carried out by a Home Office pathologist before details are passed to the Derbyshire coroner. 

Forklift driver killed after being crushed into wall 
A forklift driver was killed today in an industrial accident. The 41-year-old man, who has not yet been named, was working at the Safeway Regional Distribution Centre, within Righead Industrial Estate in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, when the accident happened shortly after midnight. He suffered serious leg injuries when he fell from his truck and became trapped between it and a wall. He was taken by ambulance to Monklands Hospital but died a short time later. About 60 forklift drivers work on the busy nightshift at the depot. A workmate said: “He was unloading a lorry that had come into the base. “I heard he had been on the truck ramp when it was parked in an unloading bay. “Maybe he was trying to straighten up his bogie to uplift the palettes from the lorry and his unit lost its balance and toppled into the bay. “I was told he was crushed into the wall.” A police spokesman said: “It was a tragic accident. The driver fell from the back of his unit and his legs were crushed between it and the wall of the bay. “Workmates quickly raised the alarm and he was given emergency treatment at the scene by paramedics before an ambulance rushed him to Monklands Hospital. “Unfortunately, he died shortly after being admitted. He had been bleeding heavily and possibly died of a cardiac arrest.” Health and Safety Executive officials have started an investigation into the tragedy. A Safeway spokesman said: “We are assisting in every way possible with the inquiry.”

£1.2m for paralysed worker 
March 15, 2003 07:00
A supermarket worker left paralysed when a loading cage fell off a lorry has won a £1.2m compensation settlement, a court heard yesterday. But magistrates dealing with a criminal prosecution of two companies for health and safety failures refused to pass sentence in the case because their £20,000 maximum fines were not enough. Sheringham man Simon Ayers has been in a wheel-chair since suffering back injuries in the accident outside the town’s Budgens supermarket on July 18 2001. Haulage company Gist and Budgens had both admitted Health and Safety Act offences of failing to ensure the safety of workers, other firms’ employees and the public. After a two-hour hearing and an hour deliberating, Cromer magistrates felt their powers were not enough and sent the case to crown court where sentencing is unlimited. Geoffrey Knipe, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, said the accident happened when a 430kg cage full of goods went through a delivery lorry’s tail lift side protector and hit Mr Ayers as he stood in front of the store. Mr Ayers, who damaged three vertebrae and his spinal column, had received no training on health and safety, and Gist had not trained driver Robin Gilbey in loading safety. Solicitor Peter Atkinson, for Gist, said it took safety seriously but the driver had “slipped through the net” because he was experienced on the Sheringham run. The company had a good safety record while delivering 5000 cages to 237 Budgens stores. He said reconstructions showed the cage could only have come off the side of the tail lift if the side plate was not properly fitted. Budgens’ barrister Gerard Forlin said it seemed human error by the driver had caused the tragic accident. The supermarket “apologised unreservedly” to Mr Ayers and his family and accepted it had fallen below the standards required by law – but added that safety methods and training had been stepped up since the accident. There was a risk assessment of loading dangers in place when it happened – but no one had told Mr Ayers about the precautions in it, including standing clear of the lorry during loading. Mr Forlin said a civil case had now been settled, with a £1.2m payout agreed – Gist paying 85pc and Budgens 15pc. The Ayers family and the two companies declined to comment after the case.

Runaway dump truck returning from Ledges plows into Target store; Employee is trapped between a cart return and a sport utility vehicle 
03/13/03 By WENDY REEVES Times Staff Writer
A runaway dump truck barreled down Huntsville Mountain and through the parking lot of the Valley Bend at Jones Farm shopping center Wednesday night, injuring a department store employee and narrowly missing two women and a baby before smashing into the front brick wall of SuperTarget. Dennis Grierson, 21, a SuperTarget cart attendant, was trapped between a shopping cart return and a sport utility vehicle. He was taken by HEMSI to Huntsville Hospital, where he was in guarded but stable condition this morning. The truck was leaving The Ledges community on the private Ledges Drive, which empties onto Carl T. Jones Drive across from the shopping center. Police cited the dump truck driver, Jermaine Pearson, 23, for operating an unsafe vehicle. “The brakes should be good enough to hold coming off there,” said police officer Jerry Key, an accident investigator. “There’s no excuse for that.” Witnesses said Pearson and his passenger, Frank McCrary, jumped out just before the truck hit the store’s front wall. Neither was injured. The accident was the second mountain-related crash in the shopping center parking lot in the past two months, and the fourth such wreck since the center opened in October 2001, according to shopping center employees. Police Sgt. Clay Warmbrod of the south precinct said several customers raised concerns to him about the mountain “and wondered whether a runaway truck ramp should be installed.” “There’s no doubt people could have been killed here tonight,” Warmbrod said. “This potentially had the equivalent of loss of life as the tornado that hit Airport Road. The only difference is that this is preventable.” More than 20 people died in the tornado that struck Airport Road in November 1989. John Blue, a co-developer of The Ledges, couldn’t be reached for comment this morning. The truck, pulling a heavy-equipment trailer loaded with wood, hit several vehicles before crashing into the SuperTarget around 6:30 p.m.. A teary-eyed mother, who didn’t want to be identified, said she used her body to shield her 15-month-old baby from flying dirt, glass and other debris thrown into the air by the dump truck as it plowed through the parking lot. “I saw the truck when it ran under the light, and I knew something was wrong,” said another bystander, Ann Anderson. Before she knew it, the dump truck was plowing through the parking lot, smashing into a pickup truck it dragged about 250 feet and hitting other cars. Anderson and others helped pull one of the shopping cart rails away from Grierson so he could lie down. He apparently suffered a broken leg. He was trapped between the rail and an Acura SUV belonging to the mother of the infant. Grierson was talking, Anderson said, “but he didn’t know what hit him.” “It happened that quick,” Anderson said with a snap of her fingers. “We are so lucky, really blessed.” Three vehicles in the parking lot were heavily damaged, including a van with three children inside. The van crashed into a light pole as its driver tried to get out of the dump truck’s path. No one in the van was hurt. Pearson was driving the 1990 Ford F700 truck for Pearson Concrete, a company he said he co-owns with his father, James Pearson. He was halfway down the mountain when he noticed “something was wrong.” The truck was moving faster and faster. “It was so fast, I was just trying to keep the truck straight, trying not to hit anything,” he said. The next thing he knew he was jumping curbs and headed for a brick wall at 45 to 50 mph. “It was so fast, I really couldn’t see what was happening,” Pearson said. “I just feel so blessed that no one was seriously hurt.” Mike Slovak, project superintendent for Rawlins Construction, in charge of building the shopping center, said if the truck had crashed through the store’s front doors, “it wouldn’t have stopped until it hit the back wall.” He said it was the fourth parking lot accident related to the mountain since the center opened. More recently, about 5 p.m. on Feb. 3, a white car occupied by construction workers went out of control as it descended the mountain and landed in the parking lot, crashing into a blue BMW roadster. The sports car was near the SuperTarget entrance. “Something needs to be changed,” Slovak said Wednesday night. “It’s a miracle” no one died. 

Johnson Police Officer Injured In Construction Mishap 
Wed, Mar 12, 2003 The Morning News/NWAonline.net 
SPRINGDALE — Johnson police officer C.B. Caya was injured Tuesday after being pinned between his vehicle and a dump truck. The accident occurred at the construction site of the Clear Creek Club development, at Great House Springs Road and Arkansas 112. Johnson police spokesman Eric Evans said Caya, 47, had gone to the construction site shortly before 8 a.m. to pick up donated construction material for use at the police firing range when he was injured. Evans said Johnson had gotten out of his pickup to help direct a construction truck that was backing up. As he went to re-enter his vehicle, it apparently popped out of gear and began to roll, pinning Caya between the door of his pickup and a parked dump truck. Evans said Caya apparently was bruised, but he did not break any bones. He was treated at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville and released by midafternoon Tuesday.

Worker crushed by 40-ton load after truck rolls 
03/08/03
ALOHA — A Carson, Wash., man was in critical condition Friday after two wheels of a semi-tractor truck rolled on top of him while he was securing heavy equipment on the trailer. He was crushed by a load estimated to weigh 40 tons. William D. Truitt, 53, underwent several hours of surgery at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital for injuries to his legs and abdomen, said Karen Eubanks, spokeswoman for Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue. Eubanks said the accident happened at 10:19 a.m. Friday near Southwest 182nd Avenue and Marseilles Drive, where a new housing development is under construction on Cooper Mountain. Truitt, who works for Newman Transportation of Vancouver, had loaded a crane onto the trailer and was securing the equipment when the truck rolled down the inclined street and two wheels from the cab pinned him to the blacktop. Eubanks said it took about half an hour for fire personnel to jack up the wheels and pull Truitt out. She estimated the truck, trailer and crane weighed about 80,000 pounds. — Holly Danks 

Forklift driver killed 
It is reported that a forklift truck driver has died in an industrial accident on the Moorfield Industrial Estate, Kilmarnock. According to one account, the accident occurred when the driver was transferring pallets of bricks from one trailer to another and he was struck by the forklift as he dismounted from it. Update: The dead man is William Speirs, 57. Mr Shearer died at the premises of Chris Shearer haulage. It is reported that he left the forklift to clear a pallet when his machine moved forward and crushed him.

UPDATE POUNDS196K FOR DAD 
Mar 8 2003
A WORKER whose legs were crushed when two tons of steel fell on him was awarded pounds196,000 compensation yesterday. The metal fell on father-of-two Michael Delaney when it was being unloaded from a lorry with a fork-lift. The Court of Session decided that McGregor Construction should have provided a proper crane. The construction firm denied any fault and had fought the case for more than three years. Mr Delaney, of Fort William, who now works as an electrician, said he was happy and relieved the case had come to an end at long last. 

Forklift operator badly injured
It is reported that a forklift operator has sustained back, abdominal and leg injuries in an industrial accident at the premises of Target Express, Deans Industrial Estate, West Lothian. It is not known if the 26 year-old man’s injuries are life-threatening.

Bourbonnais man dies in dumpster accident
Tamara Sharman, Daily Journal March 06, 2003
The simple task of emptying a garbage dumpster turned deadly Wednesday when a freak accident killed an ABC Disposal employee in Bourbonnais. Bourbonnais resident David W. Fulk, 37, died instantly from massive chest injuries, according to Kankakee County Chief Deputy Coroner Bob Gessner. Faulk was rushed to Provena St. Mary’s Hospital and officially pronounced dead in the emergency room at 8:37 a.m., Gessner said. Fulk had labored for ABC Disposal for 16 years. “He was a very good employee, very well-liked. He’ll be deeply missed by all of the employees,” company owner Joe Deno said. Bourbonnais police investigated the fatal incident. “We’re viewing this as a terrible tragedy,” noted Detective Lt. Greg Kunce. No charges will be filed. “There is nothing criminal that we saw out there that can be pursued,” Kunce said. The accident occurred at the village’s public works garage at 255 Mooney Drive as Fulk and another ABC Disposal worker were trying to empty a metal dumpster into a garbage truck. The vehicle had backed up and attached to the dumpster and was lifting it into the air to be emptied when something went terribly wrong. The front ledge of the dumpster either broke loose or shifted, Kunce said. “The dumpster dropped to the ground rather than continuing up in a normal fashion to be dumped into the truck,” Kunce explained. The dumpster was dangling by a cable with one corner on the ground when the container swung toward Fulk. “It must have pivoted around and smacked him,” Gessner said. Visitation for Fulk will be from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m. Sunday at the Kankakee chapel of Schreffler Funeral Homes. The funeral service is scheduled for Monday at 10:30 a.m. Toxicology tests are pending on Fulk, which is a standard procedure, Gessner noted. A coroner’s inquest will be scheduled at a future date.

Load topples trailer
By Advocate Staff Thursday, March 06, 2003 – 
No one was injured Monday morning after a dump trailer toppled onto its side at the northwest end of the Noyo Bridge construction site. According to Caltrans public information officer Ann Jones, the driver of the truck was backfilling the abutment at the north end of the bridge when the accident occurred. When the long trailer lifted its dump bed into the air, the dirt failed to slide out, causing the trailer to become top heavy and off balance. No one was injured in the accident, and traffic was halted by Fort Bragg Police officers for approximately five minutes. By using one of the mobile cranes stationed at the site, MCM construction personnel were able to right the trailer. Caltrans personnel were also on scene to assist. Meanwhile Cal-OSHA investigators are still looking into the cause of the rebar column collapse that took the life of 38-year-old Julio Quintero, of Fairfield, and injured Rex Kamoss, 34, of Long Beach, on Wednesday, Feb. 19. According to Cal-OSHA reports, subcontractor Pacific Coast Steel has a good safety record, having had one fatal accident, with the fault attributed to another contracting company. Pacific Coast Steel and MCM construction officials speculate that the repair and replacement of the collapsed column will not delay the completion of the bridge as scheduled.

County trucker killed in fork lift accident
March 06, 2003 
A truck driver died after being struck by a forklift at an industrial warehouse Thursday morning. Joseph Beck, 59, of Oakdale, died of torso injuries in what the Allegheny County Coroner’s Office said was an accident. Beck, a driver for PGT Trucking in Monaca, was making a stop at the Galv Tech Industrial warehouse in Pittsburgh when he was struck just before 7 a.m., authorities said. Officials at Galv Tech, a steel galvanizing firm, didn’t immediately return calls for comment. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration was investigating.

Lumber falls off forklift, pinning man
A Prunedale man was seriously injured Monday when a 2,000-pound load of lumber slipped off a forklift and crushed his legs. Robert Bennett, 62, was helping unload a shipment of lumber from a railcar onto his truck in the 11000 block of Commercial Parkway in Castroville. The load slipped through the forks of the lift and pinned Bennett against a truck, said Mike Vindhurst, division chief for the North County Fire District. Fire officials said the forklift operator used the machine to lift the load from the injured man. Bennett was taken by helicopter to San Jose Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition, a nursing supervisor said Tuesday. 

Greensburg man dies 
Jim Cummings Staff Writer 
Timothy Myer, Jr., 30, of County Road 480 East, was pronounced dead at Decatur County Memorial Hospital Wednesday afternoon after being crushed by a skid steer loader being operated by his father, Timothy Myer. The Myerses had just recently moved to the city after living in and operating their construction business out of St. Paul. Details on other family members in the area were not available at press time. At 4:26 p.m., the Greensburg Police department received a report of a male subject injured by an implement vehicle and lying on the ground near a home at 724 N. Franklin St. “The EMS crew was already working on him when I arrived,” said Assistant Police Chief Bob Herbert. “The information I received was that he was pinned by the machine momentarily and released.” Myer was treated at the scene and transported to Decatur County Memorial Hospital. He was later pronounced dead by Decatur County Coroner Doug Banks. “While this is still under investigation, all signs point to this being a tragic accident,” Banks said. “The official cause of death will be listed as crushing trauma to his abdomen.” Banks said he and the police are still attempting to contact several witnesses. Preliminarily, authorities are saying Myer was near the rear of the vehicle when he entangled himself in the New Holland LS180 with a turbo boom. He was apparently trapped between a metal bar at the rear and the hydraulic boom arm. The men were using the LS180 to lift pallets of wood, used in home building, at the time of the accident. Police will release more details as the investigation is completed.

Monroeville Facility Closed Tomorrow 
An usual odor forced the evacuation of about 150 people from a facility for the mentally-challenged in Monroeville this morning along Seco Road. Once staff members noticed the odor, they immediately contacted the fire department and evacuated everyone inside the Allegheny East Mental Health/Mental Retardation facility to a nearby fire hall. Though several people were taken to the hospital for evaluation, no one was seriously injured. Late this afternoon, fire officials determined the source of the odor was a forklift that had been left running without proper ventilation. As a precaution, Allegheny East will remain closed tomorrow. 

Man Killed In Industrial Accident 
Hatboro, Montgomery County, officials are working to determine how a man operating a front-end loader was killed. An early investigation suggests the Delaware Valley Concrete worker was crushed by heavy machinery while removing snow, but exactly what went wrong is not known. The accident happened just before 10 a.m. Thursday and detectives have not released the victim’s name. 

UPDATE Storage company fined for foul air 
A LAVERTON North company has been convicted and fined $50,000 after seven young workers were hospitalised with carbon monoxide poisoning. WorkSafe Victoria spokesman Justin Peysack said the company, AB Cold Storage, was found guilty under the Occupational Health and Safety Act for failing to provide a safe plant and systems of work. It was also found that the company failed to provide adequate training and supervision to its workers, failed to provide adequate facilities for the welfare of its employees and failed to maintain a workplace that was safe and without risk. Sunshine Magistrates Court placed the company’s director on a good behaviour bond and ordered him to pay $4000 into the court fund. The incident occurred on December 29, 1999, at Pipe Road, Laverton North, when seven university students employed as casual workers were overcome by carbon monoxide emitted from a forklift. A WorkSafe Victoria investigation revealed that there was no ventilation in the freezer. WorkSafe Victoria’s executive director, John Merritt, said operating forklifts without adequate ventilation could be deadly. “Machines that emit carbon monoxide fumes should not be used in enclosed areas,” Mr Merritt said. “Employees must also ensure forklifts are properly tuned and maintained so the emission of fumes is reduced,” he said.

Double-decker ripped open in fork-lift crash 
BY FIONA MACGREGOR 
A FORK-LIFT truck sliced open a bus like a tin opener as the double-decker drove down one of the Capital’s busiest streets. One passenger, a 38-year-old man, had to be taken to hospital after torn metal from the side of the bus ripped open his left knee. Passengers told how they heard a loud bang as the forks punctured the metal sides of the bus, tearing a three-feet-long gash of ragged metal along its front left side. The forks left another rip almost 12-feet long down the bus’s rear left side. The injured man had been sitting at the very front of the bus on the left-hand side when the accident happened shortly after 2.20pm yesterday. The number 10 Lothian Bus was travelling up Leith Walk, past the junction with Albert Street, where the fork-lift truck was trying to enter the Walk. Emergency services feared mass casualties when reports of the accident first came in. A female passenger, who asked not to be named, said there had been about two dozen people on board when the collision happened. She said: “We were just passing Albert Street when I heard a bang and the sound of glass breaking. “A woman from downstairs went upstairs and asked whether everyone was all right and somebody said no, there’s a guy been hurt at the front of the bus. “A girl came down and said metal had gone into his leg and she had tied a tourniquet around it. “I got off after about ten minutes because I was so shaken up and the driver of the fork lift came on and asked whether everyone was all right.” Emergency services were on the scene within minutes. A spokesman for the ambulance service confirmed that only one passenger needed treatment. He said: “A 38-year-old male was taken to casualty at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary with lacerations to his left knee.” The fork-lift truck was being operated by a sub contractor working for Ballast, a construction firm which is building a five-storey block of flats in Albert Street. David McKenzie of Ballast said: “We understand that the fork-lift truck was stationary with his handbrake on [at the time of the accident]. We are doing everything we can to ensure that the injured party is in good care, and that the police have all the assistance they need . “The fork-lift was licensed to be on public roads, and the driver – a very experienced, certified, fork-lift truck driver – would have been following a frequently-travelled route, turning on to Leith Walk in order to access a second site road.” A spokesman for Lothian Buses said: “We are working with Lothian and Borders Police to establish exactly what happened. “As in any accident that happens, the driver was shaken, he was certainly not expecting something like that as he was driving up Leith Walk.” A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police confirmed the force was investigating the cause of the accident.

Roller kills traffic woman 
By Ben Martin and Pamela Magill 
A WOMAN controlling traffic at roadworks in Wanneroo Road, Neerabup, yesterday was killed by an out-of-control multi-wheeled roller. The woman, 20, whose name has not been released, was a trained traffic controller contracted to the Main Roads WA site. WorkSafe officials were investigating the incident last night but had been unable to interview the driver of the roller, who was in hospital suffering from shock. t is believed the roller hit a kerb about 10am and went out of control, driving in a wide arc and running over the woman. The roller is believed to be relatively simple to operate and workers do not need a certificate specific to that type of machine to qualify to drive it. Machinery operators said the roller would have a top speed of just 20kmh. The driver was employed by a labour hire firm contracted to the company employed by Main Roads. It is believed he has experience driving similar machines. The traffic controller had been employed by Midland-based Advanced Traffic Management for less than a year. A company official said she had industry-based training in controlling traffic. Her death is the second involving heavy plant machinery in less than three weeks. A 35-year-old Falcon man was crushed by an earthmoving machine on January 25 while working on a new housing subdivision in Ocean Keys Boulevard in the northern suburb of Clarkson. The man was on the ground giving instructions to a fellow worker in a scraper when a second scraper reversed over him. WorkSafe is investigating. 

UPDATE Tamarack Developments Corporation fined $150,000 for health and safety violation
Tamarack Developments Corporation, an Ottawa- based housing developer, was fined $150,000 on February 10, 2003 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in the death of a worker at a residential construction site in Ottawa. On January 10, 2001, a surveyor was measuring a site for a house foundation when the surveyor was struck on the back by a power shovel and pinned into a pile of dirt. The shovel operator had been taking excavated dirt from an adjacent lot to a dump truck for removal when the incident occurred. The shovel operator’s supervisor had gestured to alert the shovel operator to the surveyor’s presence behind a debris pile, but the shovel operator had misinterpreted the hand signal as confirmation to proceed. The supervisor, along with the surveyor’s assistant and a truck driver, waved their arms trying to signal the shovel operator to stop, but it was too late. The shovel operator couldn’t see the surveyor from the vehicle’s cab. The surveyor was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. The incident occurred at a construction site on Pinehill Drive in Ottawa. Tamarack Developments Corporation was the owner and constructor of the project. Tamarack subcontracted the surveying, grading, excavation and debris removal work to four different companies. The deceased worker worked for the surveying company. Tamarack Developments Corporation pleaded guilty to failing, as a constructor, to ensure a shovel operator and a signaller jointly established the procedures by which the signaller was to assist the operator, as required by Section 104(3) and 104(4) of the Regulations for Construction Projects. This was contrary to Section 23(1)(b) of the act. The fine was levied by Justice of the Peace Lorraine Watson of the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa. In addition, the court imposed a 25-per- cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.

Salt truck overturns on Ohio 7 
By Brad Bauer
A mechanical failure is being blamed for a rollover accident involving an Ohio Department of Transportation salt truck on Ohio 7 near Reno Wednesday morning. The accident totaled the $80,000 ODOT truck, and spilled 8 tons of salt onto the road. The driver of the truck, Scott A. Orr, 40, of Marietta, was treated and released from Marietta Memorial Hospital with minor injuries. An investigation into the crash revealed undercarriage bolts that secure the wheel to the axle on the 1990 International 4900 dump truck broke, allowing one of the two right rear tires to come off. The weight of the vehicle, plus the 8-ton load of salt forced the remaining right-rear tire to go flat. “At that point the load shifted and there wasn’t anything (the driver) could do,” said ODOT spokesman Jim Spain. “It’s just a blessing no one was seriously hurt.” Orr was driving north on Ohio 7, preparing to treat roads in the eastern part of the county, when the failure occurred about two miles north of the Marietta Industrial Complex, which is home to Kardex. As the load of salt began to shift, the vehicle was forced into a sideways skid left of center, before finally rolling over and landing upright facing south, partially off the road. “Once something like that happens you’re just along for the ride,” said Ronnie Walters, an ODOT plow driver who was on the scene to check on Orr and help clear the road. “There’s nothing he could have done.” Orr, a 15-year veteran of ODOT, was not cited. Spain said it is not unheard of for undercarriage bolts on trucks to break. Because of that, he said ODOT officials examine them every time the trucks are taken out of the garage. “Even with the best inspections and maintenance plans, you can have a failure,” he said. State crews were cleaning the scene for 90 minutes after the 8:40 a.m. accident. “My understanding is a school bus was out ahead and had stopped traffic to make a pickup,” Orr said. “That may have held up the line of traffic just enough to prevent this from being a lot worse.” 

Bobcat operator dies after contruction accident in Miramar
BY EVAN HESSEL
A 42-year-old Bobcat operator was pronounced dead after an early morning construction accident in Miramar left him trapped underwater for 30 minutes. The accident took place 8:35 a.m. Wednesday morning at S.W. 185th Ave. and 50th Ct. in Miramar, where new housing contruction is taking place. The worker had just finished clearing debris and was inside his Bobcat, rinsing off the front end in a nearby lake, when it rolled over and sank into 30 feet of water. He was transported to a local hospital shortly before 9: 20 a.m. where he was pronounced dead. 

BNFL’s compactor shut down 
by R. Cathey Daniels Oak Ridger staff 
Jeff Stevens, BNFL project general manager, confirmed Wednesday that equipment being removed from Building K-31 at the K-25 site dropped from a forklift with enough force to crack a concrete floor in Building K-33. Super Compactor operations were shut down Tuesday and will remain so until investigations are complete, said Stevens. The container of pipe was headed to the BNFL compactor outside Building K-33. Stevens said no personnel were in the area and no injuries occurred. “We’ve notified DOE and we’re investigating to see why the pipe did more damage than normal,” said Stevens. “We’ll look to see how we can empty those containers a little more carefully, and we will be reporting the results of our findings.” Stevens noted that both the loading area and the area beneath the concrete floor were cordoned off during compactor operations. “Nothing actually went through the concrete floor,” said Stevens. “The concrete was cracked with an opening of about 12 inches long and a couple of inches wide.” The pipe, said Stevens, was 24 inches in diameter and about 10 feet in length. Frank Juan, DOE spokesman, said Wednesday that the cost of fixing the problem would be lower than $10,000. “It’s pretty clear this kind of thing can happen when you’re dealing with big equipment — the main thing we’ll look for is whether safety plans are in order.” Stevens said BNFL’s safety record is sound, with approximately 2.05 recorded incidents per 200,000 worker hours. Operations at BNFL were shut down Friday for a couple of days due to the increased safety alert issued by the federal government. BNFL Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels, is the Department of Energy’s contractor for decontaminating and decommissioning three buildings at the former gaseous diffusion site.

Meatworks fined after workers overcome
A north Queensland meatworks has been fined $15,000 after three chill room workers were overcome by carbon monoxide gas. Thomas Borthwicks and Sons pleaded guilty in Mackay Magistrate’s Court to a breach of Workplace Health and Safety regulations. The court was told the workers were overcome by fumes emitted from a forklift in June 2001. One person required treatment in a hyperbaric chamber. Magistrate Ross Risson fined the company $15,000, but did not record a conviction.

Teenager killed in forklift accident 
online.ie 08 Feb 2003 
A teenager has been killed in an accident involving a fork lift in Co Cork. The 16-year-old boy was driving the forklift on the outskirts of Castletownbere at around 4.25am when it overturned.

Accident kills man at City Hall work site 
By Brent Flynn , Staff writer 02/08/2003 
One man was killed and another was injured when a forklift backed into two workers at the Lewisville City Hall construction site on Wednesday. Duane Pope, 43, of Carrollton was pronounced dead at 1:30 p.m. at the 100 block of West Church Street. Pope was a supervisor for one of the subcontractors on the project, Dallas-based Don Burden & Associates. Chief Executive Officer Don Burden said Pope had been with the company for 1-1/2 years and was a “very nice guy.” Pope was reportedly talking to Randy Davis of Invensys, another subcontractor on the project. An employee of Rowlett-based CMD Masonry, whose name is being withheld by authorities, was reportedly using a 10-ton industrial forklift to lift stone arches for use on the front of the building. He then lowered the boom and started backing up. When he backed away from the building over a curb and turned back to the right, he hit the two workers, officials said. Davis was hit on the right side and fell to his left, suffering five broken ribs. He was taken to the Medical Center of Lewisville and released later that day. The major question being asked by city officials and investigators after the accident is why the two men did not hear the forklift’s back-up warning alarm. Invensys project manager Robert Mintor said that after speaking with Davis, he still does not know how the accident happened. “The only thing Randy has told me is he didn’t hear or see anything,” Mintor said. “He said he didn’t have a clue what was going on until he was on the ground looking at the tire getting ready to roll over him. He said, ‘First I was walking and talking, then this thing was on top of me.’ He’s emotionally very upset over what happened. They had just met, and (Pope) was showing him around the job site. He had only been there 10 minutes when it happened.” Mike Talmont, Occupational Safety and Health Administration assistant area director, said that as far as he can tell, the warning alarm and horn on the forklift were functioning at the time of the accident. “The back-up alarm worked when I got out there and the horn worked, so I’m not sure why they didn’t hear the back-up alarm,” he said. “When I had them back up for me, it was working.” Talmont said he is waiting to see additional documentation on the extent of the forklift operator’s training before he can determine whether or not a safety violation was to blame for the death. “They are supposed to be trained and certified to operate the vehicle,” he said. “I saw his card that was dated August 2002. I was asking for a little bit more documentation on what that training entailed.” City of Lewisville spokesman James Kunke said police investigators are waiting for a toxicology report on the forklift operator and the deceased. A preliminary report is expected in mid to late next week. Commercial Structures and Interiors of Lewisville is the construction management company overseeing the building project. Company spokesman John Peveto issued a statement Wednesday about the accident “This is a very unfortunate accident that saddens us all,” he said. Mayor Gene Carey expressed his condolences for Pope’s family. “It was a tragic accident, and our prayers and thoughts go out to their families,” he said. This was the second fatality associated with the construction of Lewisville’s new city hall. Brian Keith Cummings, 27, of Howe, Texas, was killed on March 14, 2002 when he was caught between a large drill bit and a counter weight on the back side of a crane.

Forklift Pins And Kills Worker
CHARLOTTE, NC — 
Paramedics confirmed a man was killed in a forklift accident in east Charlotte. People at the scene Thursday night, said a forklift somehow pinned the man against a building on Sharon Amity road near Harris Boulevard. Police officials said the accident happened around 9 p.m. at Carolina Builders. The mans coworker had left about an hour earlier. The victim was working alone, when he got off the forklift to shift a load; the forklift rolled forward and pinned him. He died on the scene. OSHA is expected to investigate the accident. 

Village in shock after worker’s death
February 7, 2003 05:33 By John Howard
A VILLAGE is trying to come to terms today with the death of one of its residents in an accident at work. British Sugar factory dispatch worker Lorraine Waspe died after she was involved in a collision with a mechanical loading shovel in a warehouse at the company’s factory in Bury St Edmunds on Wednesday. Mrs Waspe, 40, who lived in Valley Lane, Great Finborough, was an only child and came from a farming family well-known in the area. She married her sweetheart Colin last year at a wedding ceremony in Gretna Green. The Rev Nigel Hartley, parish priest for Great Finborough, said: “What has happened is a tragedy for the family and the community. The Waspe family are extremely well-known in the area. “Lorraine was a very bubbly, sparky character, very well-liked and was getting into village affairs. I was involved in the funeral of her mother, Joyce, during 2001 and her father John still lives in the village. “For Lorraine to die in such a tragic way at such a young age, particularly given she had only recently arried Colin, is a tragedy.” Sue Marks, who runs the village post office and stores with her husband Paul, recalled a woman who was full of fun. “She was a customer at the shop, she was a lovely woman, always full of fun, lively, someone who enjoyed life,” she said. “She was a super, super girl. What can you say? She has lived in the village for years, everybody knew them. This is such a terrible shame. “The family are all absolutely devastated, in a state of shock. To think you could go to work as normal and not come back. I can’t imagine what they feel like, it’s terrible.” Lesley Cass, one of Mrs Waspe’s neighbours, added: “She was a bubbly, friendly person, passionate about cats, loved the birds and was keen to encourage wildlife. “She was enthusiastic about the environment and environmental issues. She and her husband were creating their own garden to her design and she was involved in village activities such as the gardening club. “I am absolutely stunned by her death. The couple were only married last year in Gretna Green after being together for a long while. Her husband will be absolutely devastated.” A spokeswoman for the Transport and General Workers’ Union, which has members at the factory, said it deeply saddened to hear of Mrs Waspe’s death and sent their condolences to her family, friends and colleagues. Mrs Waspe worked for British Sugar as a seasonal worker and her colleagues are being offered counselling. Suffolk police are not treating her death as suspicious, but the Health and Safety executive has launched an investigation. A spokeswoman for the Health and Safety Executive said yesterday: “Investigations started straight away and inspectors are at the company today. “Generally we try to ascertain what happened and why, take statements from people, look in to the training histories. “We are looking to see if there have been any breaches of health and safety legislation to keep people safe in the workplace.” John Smith, a spokesman for British Sugar, said it was working closely with the Health and Safety Executive to discover exactly what happened. An inquest into Mrs Waspe’s death will be held at a later date. 

Construction worker killed in Lewisville 
02/05/2003 By LESLEY TÈLLEZ / The Dallas Morning News 
One construction worker was killed and a second was injured Wednesday afternoon when a forklift apparently ran over them at the site of the new Lewisville City Hall in Old Town. The injured man was transported to Medical Center of Lewisville, where he was listed in stable condition. The victims’ names were not immediately available, officials said. All three men involved were employed by a contractor, whose name was not available Wednesday. The cause of the accident remained under investigation. Police, firefighters and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were to be involved in the probe. “We are just interviewing workers to try to find out what happened,” city spokesman James Kunke said. “We just don’t know yet.” This was the second fatality at the site. Last March, Brian Keith Cummings, 27, of Howe was killed while working below a crane. Mr. Cummings worked for N.L. Schutte Foundation Drilling Inc., a company subcontracted to do foundation work on the new $12 million City Hall. 

Forklift accident
Updated: 1/31/2003 6:07:55 PM By: Capital News 9 web staff 
A Canadian truck driver is being treated at Albany Medical Center, after a work site accident. Peter Primeau was loading his shipping truck with a fork lift at A. Duie Pyle, on Route 9 in Schodack. Police said the fork lift rolled forward, pinching the 54-year-old truck drivers leg. State police, along with paramedics and the fire department decided that Primeau’s injuries were serious enough to have him airlifted to Albany Medical Center. Schodack Police Chief Bernard Peter said, “Possible broken ankle, a good sized cut on his leg, which is pretty serious. The loss of blood and such he didn’t want to take any chances. We thought it was best to the chopper pick him up and fly him to Albany Med. State police chopper is the one who came in today with the paramedics to pick him up. No word yet on the driver’s condition.

UPDATE Mystery why rail worker died
30.01.2003 – BY GRAHAM SKELLERN and JEFF NEEMS 
IT’S a mystery why James Jacobs died. As one of four rail workers, he was helping attach seven passenger cars to a locomotive in Mount Maunganui. They were having trouble and it was decided to shunt the engine into the cars. It should have been a simple job and the workers were sent away for safety. But for some reason Mr Jacobs turned and headed back to the train. No-one saw him and just over a minute later a workmate found him on the ground. Mr Jacobs, a 46-year-old servicing assistant for Alstom Transport, had suffered a fractured skull when he was somehow struck by one of the passenger cars during the shunting movement on Saturday afternoon. He was the second rail worker to die in six months and, as he was buried by family and friends yesterday, angry rail union officials lashed out, calling his death a “national disgrace”. Only now are details beginning to emerge and six separate inquiries have started into his death. The accident happened at Alstom’s Totara St depot about 1pm but it remains a mystery. Mr Jacobs, a health and safety and union boss, was considered by family and workmates to be safety conscious. Mr Jacobs and three colleagues were working on the seven old railway passenger cars which had just been shipped over from Australia. They were being prepared for the rail trip to the Dunedin Hillside workshops to be refurbished and put on the Auckland suburban passenger service. The workers were having trouble linking the locomotive engine to the row of passenger cars. The Australian and New Zealand coupling systems did not quite match and it was decided to make a short, sharp shunting movement to force the couplings together. The workers were told to clear the area and Mr Jacobs was seen by his colleagues leaving. About 90 seconds later, one of his colleagues turned around and found Mr Jacobs collapsed between the passenger cars in the middle of the row. He rushed over, hauled Mr Jacobs clear and raised the alarm but it was too late. Mr Jacobs had died instantly. Police said Mr Jacobs had head injuries consistent with a fall. There were no suspicious circumstances and the matter was with the coroner. Today, his widow Ngaere spoke to the Bay Times about her husband’s life and death. Born in England in 1956, Mr Jacobs married Ngaere in Palmerston North in 1977. The couple have two grown-up children, James and Olivia, and two grandchildren, Kelly (3) and Skyla (18 months). He considered himself a Kiwi and thrived on many of the pastimes New Zealanders are fond of. Fishing, surfing and snorkelling were integral in family life and, as Mrs Jacobs recalled, “the kids would be his excuse to go to the beach himself”. His son James, also a keen surfer would regularly catch a ride with his father to Mount Maunganui so he too could ride the waves. In typical surfer lingo, James said his father “charged” when he took to the water. Fishing was also important to him. “He’d sit there and reel a big fish in and not let people know he was pulling it in,” she said. Always willing to lend a hand, Mr Jacobs would always be prepared “to drop anything and help anyone”. His work on the rail yards meant the family often had some peculiar houseguests. A “Dr Doolittle” of sorts, Mr Jacobs once brought home a stray baby goat _ which actually went on holiday with the family at one stage _ and a stray goose. It wasn’t uncommon for him to stop and pick up wounded birds that had been clipped or injured at the rail yards. “Anything and anyone that came to the house became a member of the family,” James said. Although quiet and thoughtful, Mr Jacobs always found himself at the forefront or any issues at work. He became a high-ranking union official almost by default, Mrs Jacobs said, “ because he was able to get his point across without any animosity. People respected what he said, it was the way he acted and spoke. He never got angry.” James summed up his father quite simply: “He was one of those guys you meet, shake his hand and he’d always leave and impression on you.” Colleagues say Mr Jacobs had a fixation about workplace safety in the Mount Maunganui railyard. He was also a hero to his workmates. Five years ago, Mr Jacobs worked tirelessly to keep the Mount car and wagon workshops open _ after Tranz Rail was planning to close them down. “He saved 26 jobs,” said the Mount Rail and Maritime union secretary, Steve Peacock. “Jim put together the facts and figures in a booklet and presented it to Tranz Rail. By page three the Tranz Rail people’s jaws were on the floor and they were saying `we can’t close the depot’. It’s still one of the busiest in the North Island.” Mr Peacock said Jim had a firm but light-hearted manner about him.“Even when management was bringing in the walls, Jim always smiled _ and we used to win as well.” As chairman of the Mount Rail and Maritime Transport Union for the past three and a half years, Mr Jacobs would in his light-hearted way rebuke his colleagues for arriving at work with loose shoelaces. He was the second rail worker killed in a workplace accident in the past six months, to the day, and the 12th since 1995. Wayne Butson, general secretary of the Rail and Maritime union, said: “All I know is another rail worker has died _ there’s been far too many over the years. The safety record of the rail industry continues to be a national disgrace.” The depot owner Alstom Transport NZ, Tranz Rail, Transport Accident Investigation Commission, Occupational Safety and Health, Land Transport Authority and the police are all completing investigations. 

Worker run over by dump truck; Victim hospitalized after levee accident
Thursday January 30, 2003 By Mary Swerczek River Parishes bureau 
A 32-year-old Marksville man was in stable condition after being run over by a dump truck on the Mississippi River levee across from Ormond Boulevard on Tuesday afternoon. Jonathan Dauzat was pinned under the truck until East St. Charles volunteer firefighters lifted it with air bags and freed him, St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Pat Yoes said. Dauzat was airlifted to West Jefferson Hospital. Dauzat was working for James Construction Group LLC marking lines along the levee when Joseph Berryhill, 46, of Westwego, who works for Miller Excavating Service, accidentally backed over him, Yoes said. The accident happened at about 1:45 p.m. “He was bending over marking lines,” Yoes said. “The driver didn’t see anyone behind him and backed up.” Another worker ran to the truck and told Berryhill that Dauzat was pinned underneath it, Yoes said. Yoes said he did not know how long Dauzat was trapped under the truck. Dauzat and Berryhill are among workers pouring asphalt on the levee to build the first eight miles of an 18-mile bicycle path. The first section of the route will tie into the existing path at the St. Charles-Jefferson Parish line and extend to Ormond Boulevard. 

Runaway truck hits church social hall 
By Rod Ohira Advertiser Staff Writer
A 56-year-old woman escaped serious injury yesterday when a runaway 7 1/2-ton delivery truck plowed into a termite-eaten building adjoining a Waipahu church. Ata Alapati was found under the building after the impact of a Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Hawaii truck crashing into the Waipahu Samoan Assembly of God’s social hall split the floor of the room where she was preparing for a morning prayer session. “We were worried about the house falling on her,” Waikele Fire Capt. Howard Naone said. Alapati was treated for neck and back injuries and taken to St. Francis-West, where she was reported in stable condition last night. The 6 a.m. accident at 94-515 Waipahu St. could have been worse if it had occurred 60 to 90 minutes later when Waipahu Elementary School students could have been in the path of the truck. The driver, a 29-year-old man, had parked the truck alongside the school’s cafeteria, which is above the school parking lot. He arrived at the school shortly before 6 a.m. to service vending machines. “He said he put on the air brakes but heard a hissing noise,” Officer Dana Paikai said. “He said he checked the truck out but the hissing noise had stopped.” The driver was away from the truck when cafeteria workers told him it was rolling down the hill. The driver told Paikai he chased after the truck but could not safely enter the cab to stop it. The truck rolled off the cafeteria’s driveway and down a grassy slope, hit a light fixture, and went through the parking lot and a chain-link fence before going off an 8-foot ledge and into the building about 200 feet away from the cafeteria. “Fortunately, the woman was . . . on the other side,” Paikai said. Bill Neighbors, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Hawaii’s division safety manager, said the company will cooperate with the police investigation but will also conduct its own probe. Dez Vaofasa, the injured woman’s son and a licensed truck driver, said the driver should have never left the truck if there was a hissing sound. “I don’t blame him, but with air brakes, anything can happen,” Vaofasa said. “I believe this was preventable.” 

Man killed in shunting accident 
29.01.2003 6.00 pm 
A Tauranga man was killed in a train shunting accident at Mt Maunganui on Saturday. Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) said it was investigating the death of Alstom Transport employee James Jacobs. Mr Jacobs died in the 1pm accident in a yard at Tauranga’s rail terminus at Mt Maunganui. Rail and Maritime Transport Union general secretary Wayne Butson said Alstom Transport took over locomotive, car and wagon maintenance from Tranz Rail in March last year. Mr Butson said Mr Jacobs was the second rail worker killed at work in the past six months. He said the union would help Tranz Rail, Alstom Transport, OSH and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission with investigations. 

UPDATE Forklift truck used as crane killed employee
United Engineering Forgings Ltd of Bromsgrove, now in administration, has been fined a total of £30,000 with substantial costs over the death of an employee struck on the head by the arm of a forklift truck. Calvin Hughes, 26, died in July 2001, while working at the company as a maintenance engineer. Droitwich Magistrates Court heard HSE’s Mark Harris explain how a lifting operation normally undertaken by overhead crane could not proceed because of lack of space. A forklift truck was pressed into action with a rope suspended from one of the arms. Tragically, during the lift the right hand bar of the forklift struck Mr Hughes on the head. The company was found to have failed to meet the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act, and failing to ensure provision and maintenance of plant and systems at work; failing to ensure thorough examination of the fleet of forklift trucks; and failing to check the lifting sling. 

Worker in Kearny hurt loading truck
KEARNY – A New York man was injured in a town warehouse yesterday when a 400-pound barrel fell on him while he was loading a truck, Kearny Police Sgt. Thomas Osborne said. Yerly Soorio, 44, of Queens, was loading the truck at the St. George’s Warehouse on Pennsylvania Avenue when the accident occurred. Soorio and another man were using a manual forklift and were entering the truck when a barrel inside the truck fell on Soorio, Osborne said. Soorio complained of chest and neck pain and was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center, Osborne said. A spokesman for the hospital said Soorio was treated and released. 

Man killed in forklift collision
01/27/2003
PHOENIX (AP) — A loaded forklift pierced the passenger side of a Jaguar, killing the driver instantly in a desolate area of northeast Scottsdale. It is unknown why the man lost control of his car Saturday. His car hopped a desert landscape median and collided broadside with a forklift. The identity of the Jaguar’s driver was not known. The man was in his late teens or early 20s and his car had Arizona license plates, Scottsdale Officer Scott Reed said. The driver of the forklift, a 23-year old man employed by Peoria-based JLC Roofing, was not injured. There were no independent witnesses, and police do not believe alcohol was a factor.