On March 9, 1994, a 46-year-old black, non-Hispanic male truck driver (the decedent) died after being crushed by his delivery truck. The decedent was in the process of unloading the truck for his employer, a liquor and spirits wholesale distributor, when the incident occurred. There were no witnesses to the incident. The victim had parked the truck, designed with an air-activated braking system, in a parking lot about 25-30 feet from the back of the market building where he was making a delivery. The truck was parked on a slight incline with its rear door facing the back door of the market. The victim was found pinned between the truck's bumper and a building drainpipe. The parking brake had not been secured, allowing the truck to roll backwards and pin the victim between the truck's bumper and the building drainpipe. Employees from the store called 911 and the victim was taken to a local hospital where he remained for the next two days. His condition gradually deteriorated and he died from massive internal injuries. The CA/FACE investigator concluded that in order to prevent similar future occurrences: 1. employers should provide delivery drivers with some form of roll prevention device ("chock") such as wooden blocks, provide employee training in how to safely use them, and require their use behind rear tires to prevent trucks from rolling backwards when parked. In addition, manufacturers and equipment designers should: 2. equip commercial vehicles used by delivery drivers with an automatic alarm system that is activated when the emergency brake has not been set.
Region-9; Accident-analysis; Accident-prevention; Accidents; Injuries; Injury-prevention; Traumatic-injuries; Work-operations; Work-analysis; Work-areas; Work-performance; Work-practices; Safety-education; Safety-equipment; Safety-measures; Safety-monitoring; Truck-drivers; Trucking; Drivers; Training; Transportation-workers; Transportation-industry