Worker fatally crushed under dump box

A logging access road was being improved by bulldozing loads of rock onto the wet and muddy stretches. A rock truck driver dumped one of these loads so that a bulldozer could spread it out. He then drove the truck forward and pulled over to investigate why the rock truck's warning buzzer was sounding off yet again. He thought that the mid-axle brake pod reservoir and switch were the problem. At the time of the incident, the driver was sitting on the truck frame, with the dump box raised, so that he could reach the brake assembly to repair it.

A WorkSafeBC investigation found that before the driver exited the cab and went under the dump box, he had inadvertently shifted the control lever for the dump box from the "hold" position to the "float" position. And because the dump box locking bar was not engaged, the dump box began to fall slowly. It lowered onto the driver before he noticed it and could escape.

Safe work practices:

• DO NOT work under any elevated equipment unless it has been securely blocked against inadvertent movement.

• Train operators of mobile equipment how to conduct and document daily pre-shift inspections. Ensure that they know what specific items—for example, brake assemblies—need to be inspected and how to inspect them safely.
• Provide workers with a suitable area for using blocking devices for dump boxes when these devices are difficult to access. To engage certain kinds of locking bars, drivers have to lie on the ground under the truck.
• Provide workers with adequate training that relates directly to the particular model or type of equipment—including its safety features as well as specific controls and their functions.