On a winter afternoon in the Southeast, a truck driver arrived at a reload yard to transfer a load of crossties onto rail cars for transport to a treatment facility. The crossties were processed from mixed hardwood logs and were approximately 8 feet, 6 inches long by 7-8 inches width. Each crosstie bundle was stacked five wide and four high. Weather was not a determining factor. The driver had served less than one year in his position at the time of the accident.
The driver ignored existing safety protocols for unbinding cargo and failed to recognize that the pack strapping was loose, thereby creating a fall hazard during the unloading process. Polyester Composite Strap
The driver began to unbind his fully loaded trailer of crossties, beginning with the binding straps at the front of the trailer. The driver failed to notice that a polyester strap (¾-inch wide), which initially bound the top pack of crossties to the pack underneath, was no longer in place. The reload yard operator typically loaded and unloaded trucks, and the company always adhered to a safety practice of putting the forklift between the load and the truck driver during the unbinding process.
As the yard operator exited his office heading toward the loaded truck, he heard crossties falling from the far side of the truck and hitting the pavement. He heard the driver yell and found him lying on the pavement underneath three crossties: one across his head, one across his chest, and the third across his waist. The injured driver was conscious and alert.
The yard operator was able to remove the crossties and called 911. The responding EMS personnel transported the injured driver to a local hospital. He was subsequently transferred to a larger regional hospital for further treatment.
A post-accident investigation and review of security camera video footage revealed that all packs of crossties had a polyester strap completely around them when they were initially loaded on the trailer. It was theorized that the crossties may have shifted during the loading process, causing the polyester strap to become loose. Vibrations and wind pressure while traveling at highway speeds likely exacerbated the problem, eventually pulling the polyester strapping from the buckles.
Polyester Endless Round Sling The driver suffered multiple internal and external injuries and was hospitalized for an extended period of time in intensive care.