Plumber Pinned by Power Lift

An apprentice plumber died after being pinned between a ceiling water pipe and the rail of a personnel platform. It appeared that he was using a straddle lift truck to raise himself to the leaking pipe. Apparently while leaning over the platform rail to manipulate the lift’s control lever with a 10-foot (three meter) pole, he became pinned between the rising rail and the pipe. About 30 minutes later, a co-worker found him and rushed to lower the lift platform. When pressure on him was released, the victim slid out of the platform and fell about eight feet (2.43 meters) to the floor. He died in hospital three days later.

Investigators recommended that anyone who is going to use a forklift complete forklift training beforehand, and only use authorized methods to operate it.