Date of incident: October 2024
Notice of incident number: 2024179460039
Employer: Forestry contractor

Incident summary
In the workyard of a small forestry services firm, a commercial truck driver was conducting a pre-trip inspection on his truck-trailer unit. He climbed onto the rear deck of the truck, between the truck’s cab and the trailer, to perform maintenance. The truck-trailer unit suddenly rolled backward. The driver attempted to jump off the truck but his right foot became caught on the deck and he was dragged beneath the truck as it rolled. The driver sustained fatal injuries.

Investigation conclusions

Cause

• Truck’s and trailer’s air brakes were not engaged. When the driver left the truck’s cab to perform maintenance on the truck’s rear deck, the air brakes were not engaged. This allowed the truck to roll backward while the driver was standing on the rear deck.

Contributing factors

• Failure to follow manufacturer’s instructions. The employer did not ensure that the driver followed the manufacturer’s instructions to apply the vehicle’s parking brake prior to exiting the vehicle.

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