Date of incident: July 2019
Notice of incident number: 2019181950014
Employer: Manufacturing facility

Incident summary
At a manufacturing facility, a young and new worker was riding on the side of a forklift, assisting the forklift operator with loading and unloading. He was standing on the left-side running board of the forklift, holding on to the handlebar on the inside of the cab door. While the forklift was making a turn, the worker fell off the side of the forklift. The worker sustained serious injuries.

Investigation conclusions

Cause

• Fall from a moving forklift. The worker was seriously injured when he fell off a moving forklift. The employer permitted forklift assistants to ride on the forklift’s running board — a hazardous practice that is contrary to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation and the forklift instruction manual.

Contributing factors

• Inadequate training in forklift operation.
• Manufacturer’s instructions were not followed. The employer did not keep a copy of the forklift instruction manual in the forklift. The instruction manual states that the forklift must not be used if the instruction manual is missing. The employer also modified the forklift by placing a handlebar on the inside of the doors without the permission of the manufacturer.
• Inadequate young and new worker orientation. The worker did not receive the required young and new worker orientation as set out in the Regulation. The hazards of the job changed for the worker when he became a forklift assistant. The worker once again became a new worker. The worker should have been given a new worker orientation specific to the new work he was performing.

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