Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report for Iowa: Salesman Killed While Lifting Portable Elevator That Had Tipped Over in Street

摘要

In March of 1998 a seed salesman and hobby farmer from out-of-state was killed while trying to upright a new portable elevator that had tipped over in a residential street. He had purchased the 27-foot elevator from a machinery dealership the day before, attached it to the bumper of his pickup truck, and was in process of hauling the machine home. He parked the elevator overnight in the residential driveway of a relative. When leaving in the morning, he turned too sharply and drove one wheel of the elevator over a small snowbank causing the machine to tip over in the street. The salesman, his son, and some neighbors tried to lift the machine by hand, but it was too heavy. Then they tied a nylon clothesline-type rope to the elevator with its other end tied to a 4-wheel-drive vehicle sitting in a driveway. While pulling with the rope and lifting by hand, the men managed to get the end of the elevator above their heads, but then the rope suddenly broke and the elevator immediately fell to the ground, striking the victim on the head. His head injury was severe with significant bleeding, and he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival in the hospital. Recommendations based on our investigation are as follows: (1) Farmers and others who routinely pull trailing equipment must be made aware of the driving limitations inherent with their equipment. (2) A careful and thorough site assessment must be conducted and safe procedures must be selected prior to uprighting an overturned machine.