Truck Driver Crushed By Roll Off Scrap Metal Box During Unloading From Truck

SUMMARY

In the spring of 2013, a male truck driver in his 30s died when he was crushed by an empty 40 yard, 5 ton scrap metal box from a tilt frame semi-trailer he was unloading. The wire rope used to load and unload the box was not attached to the box and was rewound on the winch spool and attached to the securing C hook on the trailer. This was an unwitnessed incident. The decedent’s sunglasses were found under the box. It is hypothesized that his sunglasses fell under the box and that he may have been reaching under the box to retrieve his sunglasses while it was still resting on the tilt frame end (stinger). While reaching under the box, the box came off the stinger and landed on top of him. The decedent was found by a fellow employee operating a front end loader. After getting help, the loader operator attached chains to the bucket and lifted the box from the decedent as his coworkers moved the decedent from under the container. Emergency response arrived and he was declared dead at the scene.

Truck Driver Crushed By Roll Off Scrap Metal Box During Unloading From Truck - Michigan [PDF 628 KB]