Forklift with ‘makeshift brake’ rolls, kills 18-year-old worker in Arkansas, feds say
An 18-year-old worker parked the forklift he had been operating at an Arkansas worksite, then accidentally dropped the key, according to federal authorities.
As he was searching for the dropped key in Rison, officials said the forklift rolled and struck the unsupervised man, killing him.
Following his death in July 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration launched an investigation into Hixson Lumber Company LLC.
“Investigators determined the forklift’s original parking brake had been removed and replaced with a makeshift brake which failed to hold the machine in place,” according to a Jan. 23 news release.
OSHA has cited the lumber company — based out of Carrollton, Texas, with about 750 workers in eight states — for one willful violation and four serious violations, authorities said.
An employee with Hixson Lumber Company told McClatchy News that the company is not commenting on the citations “as its an open and ongoing matter.”
Federal investigators said the company did not properly train the 18-year-old employee and left keys in unsecured forklifts. Hixson Lumber Company also did not ensure the forklift the worker was using had a working parking brake, horn and backup alarm, according to the release.
The worker was not certified to use the forklift, officials said, and was not being supervised as he was tasked with pulling and counting lumber.
“A family, his friends and co-workers are left to mourn a young man whose life was cut short because his employer failed to follow safety requirements that would have prevented this tragedy,” OSHA area director Kia McCullough said in the release. “Hixson Lumber Company did not meet its legal responsibility to ensure that hazardous equipment was maintained, and that only trained and certified workers are allowed operate forklifts.”
OSHA has proposed the company pay $218,759 in penalties.
Hixson Lumber Company has 15 business days from when it learned of the citations to either comply, request a meeting with the area director or contest the findings.
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