The accident investigation below was opened on Monday, October 29th 2012 by OSHA representitives in Irvine, CA after learning of an incident at Gsm Retail which had occured on Wednesday, September 26th 2012. A employee working as a Order clerk was injured on the job when the warehouse worker was pinned between forklift and storage rack
Accident Date2012-09-26
Accident DegreeHospitalized injury
NarrativeOn September 26, 2012, an Employee #1 was working as a warehouse tagger for a manufacturer of casual clothing. Employee #1 was a direct hire of the employer. She was pulling orders from warehouse racks and stacking them on a hand truck. A coworker, who was also pulling orders, retrieved a forklift and was backing it up in the same aisle in which Employee #1 was working. He backed the forklift to the right, behind a pallet stacked high with goods, and struck Employee #1, who was pulling orders directly behind the pallet. Her hand truck partly shielded her from the forklift, but she was momentarily pinned between the forklift and a warehouse rack upright before the coworker saw her and pulled the forklift forward. Employee #1 sustained a fractured pelvis, five fractured ribs, and two fractured vertebrae. She was hospitalized for treatment of her injuries. The incident was reported later the same day.