Forklift Fatality Report
INCIDENT
A Georgia farm was cited with safety violations after say a worker was fatally injured in a forklift accident.
The worker was pinned between a forklift load and a metal railing while doing maintenance work on a conveyor system at a Pearson Farm’s facility in Fort Valley, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
After investigating the incident, OSHA cited the farm, which grows peaches and pecans, for several safety violations.
The farm is cited for “exposing employees to struck-by hazards,” and to “fall, chemical and amputation hazards,” the release says.
OSHA says employers didn’t have a system to detect “anhydrous ammonia leaks” or come up with an “emergency response plan.”
It also didn’t train employees for what to do in the case of a leak, have “effective machine guarding” or use procedures to control “hazardous energy,” OSHA says.
The company faces $128,004 in penalties for the violations, according to OSHA.
“Employers must assess their workplaces to identify hazards and take corrective actions to eliminate serious or life-threatening injuries and illnesses,” OSHA acting area director Condell Eastmond said in the release “A comprehensive safety and health program should be implemented to ensure controls are in place to protect workers.”