Longshoreman Dies When Hit By Forklift

A longshoreman, working on loading a freighter, was near the end of his shift just before 1 a.m. He was walking from the ship toward the exit gate. Meanwhile, a forklift operator was driving from the dock side with a load which partly obstructed his view. He saw an object fly over his load. Turning the machine around, he proceeded back to the object, then dismounted from the forklift to retrieve a cap. He then noticed a body on the ground back in the direction from which he had just come. The longshoreman had apparently been caught under the forklift as it turned. He had received injuries including the mutilation of his abdomen and amputation of one leg. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

This fatality report is a sad story about workers’ lack of attention to their actions and on the conditions around them. These circumstances might have prevented this accident:

  • If the forklift driver had received adequate safety training.
  • If he had backed up instead of driving forward because he could not see over the load.
  • If he had been alert to possible pedestrian traffic because of the shift change.
  • If the longshoreman had been wearing a safety vest which could be seen at night.
  • If he had used a designated pedestrian walkway and if he had been alert to possible mobile equipment around him.