Employee Killed When Struck By Falling Forklift Boom

Employee #1 was unloading a piece of steel with his forklift. His supervisor leaned down to unhook a chain and saw hydraulic fluid dripping from the joint at the main cylinder; he told Employee #1 to take the forklift to be fixed by the maintenance man. The employee parked the forklift in the maintenance area and raised the forks. Employee #1 was standing under the forks when the hydraulic fitting to the mast failed, resulting in a sudden release of the fluid and descent of the mast. Employee #1 was killed. No one saw the accident. He may have been attempting to pinpoint the leak’s location prior to summoning the maintenance man. There was a wrench on the floor near the body, and it is likely that Employee #1 was attempting to tighten the fitting to stop the leak, but instead stripped the threads, causing a complete failure.

Source: Osha.gov