A man in a warehouse was fatally pinned against a wall by a tractor-trailer backing up. On Friday morning around 6:00, a 2012 Freightliner tractor trailer backed up into the loading dock inside Sun King Produce Corp located on Morgan Street near Jackson Street in East Williamsburg. 63 year old Son Ngoc Nguyen who was standing near the back wall was crushed against the wall by the truck. He was transported to the hospital in critical condition and died from his injuries a day later. The truck driver wasn’t charged. Read more in the NY Daily News
Dock workers at high risk of accidents
The loading dock is one of the most dangerous area in a warehouse. OSHA has specific regulations about loading dock safety that can be found in 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1910.176 material handling. While forklift accidents such as forklift overturning, are the most common in warehouses, it is also quite frequent for warehouse workers to be crushed by trucks and sadly most of these accidents are deadly . Here are some of the most recent cases reported by OSHA:
- In November 2017 a United Parcel Service employee sustained crushing injuries after he was struck by a yard truck and trailer backing up to the dock
- In December 2017 a Danisco US employee was struck and run over by a semi-tractor that he had just finished loading with enzyme
- In March 2018 a dock employee at Staffing Solutions suffered facial injury after being pinned against a concrete wall by a tractor trailer
- In March 2018, a Maines Paper & Food Service worker was found dead under a tandem trailer truck in the loading area
- In June 2018, a Valfilm dock worker performing maintenance was crushed to death against the dock by a semi trailer backing up
- In July 2018, a USPS worker was hit and run over by a 11-ton delivery box truck backing up in the loading area
- In August 2018 a 55 year old UPS employee died after his head was crushed between two trailers
- In August 2018 a Taylor Farms California dock-man was crushed to death by a truck backing up
Other accidents in docking areas include slip and fall, trailer separation, unsecured loads, chemical splash, injuries related to material handling, injuries related to unguarded machinery or dock edges.