Warehouse Worker Fatally Injured when Struck by Falling Metal Grates

SUMMARY

On October 23, 2009 a 49-year-old male warehouse worker (victim) was fatally injured while collecting product for an order. While getting ready to move the pallet jack that he was using to the location of the next item to be picked, he was struck by metal grates that fell from their top shelf storage location. A co-worker who was in an adjacent aisle accessing the top section of a rack heard the crash and then found the victim underneath the metal grates. Co-workers cleared the grates away from the victim, started cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and placed a call for emergency medical serviced (EMS). Within minutes EMS and the local police and fire departments arrived at the incident location, and the victim was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The Massachusetts FACE Program concluded that to prevent similar occurrences in the future, employers should:

Warehouse Worker Fatally Injured when Struck by Falling Metal Grates [PDF 368 KB]