The place down the road from where I work, I wired for high-bay lights and various other things a few years back, suffered it's first workplace fatality today.
Apparently, from what one of the supervisors was saying, they needed to replace one of the Metal-Halide lamps because it was nearing the end of it's life.
When I wired and installed all of them fittings, I told the Boss there that he was to call the company I used to work for and get us to replace them.
To that I was told "Nah, She'll be right, we have a forklift here", I told them to at least use an approved cage if they were going to replace any of the lamps or work at hieght off of a forklift.
Now, today, from what I'm told they had the now deceased guy up on a wooden pallet on the forklift and the pallet broke from underneath him, sending him onto a concrete floor, he died (what I would imagine would be) a slow and painful death falling 5 metres (15ft),
breaking his pelvis, breaking 6 ribs and puncturing a lung and a skull fracture.
When is it that idiots are going to learn that forklifts are not designed to lift people (especially on wooden pallets)?.
This young (19y/o) guy had been on the job about 3 months and was asked to change a light-bulb.
You'd never get me upon the forks of a forklift(cage or no cage) , considering that you can never trust the driver, but that is why they make things like scissor-lifts and cherry-pickers.
Some companies are just too short-sighted in the things they do.
A bit of money spent could have saved this guys life.
Imagine dying like that.
Someone needs a boot where it fits. [Linked Image]