Need a policy because of a recent regulatory change? We’ve got it for you. Need some quick training on a specific HR topic? We’ve got it for you. HR Insider provides the resources you need to craft, implement and monitor policies with confidence. Our team of experts (which includes lawyers, analysts and HR professionals) keep track of complex legislation, pending changes, new interpretations and evolving case law to provide you with the policies and procedures to keep you ahead of problems. FIND OUT MORE...
Working with Dangerous Goods – Safe Handling Fatality File

Employee Is Injured in Fall from Shipping Container

On January 5, 2012, Employee #1, a restorer/stock associate, was working at a warehouse that served several retail stores and art galleries. His main duty was repairing goods that had been damaged during shipping, but he also assisted other associates loading and unloading goods transported in shipping containers or trucks. The warehouse had no loading dock. Goods would be shipped in their original cardboard boxes or wooden crates.

Employee #1 was assisting a coworker unloading a shipping container that was 20-ft long and approximately 5 ft above the ground. The coworker was pushing a wood crate containing jade sculptures toward the unprotected edge of the container's opening.

Employee #1 was walking backward and pulling the crate. When the crate broke, he lost his balance, stumbled backward, and fell from the container to a concrete floor.

Employee #1 was hospitalized for a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage. The cause of the accident was failure to provide guardrails or an alternate means of protecting employees from falling off the elevated work location (shipping container).

Source: osha.gov