Safety Meeting: A ruined forklift, a ruined knee, and one simple step that caused both.

A few years ago, I had a situation that had a minor injury that could have been a major casualty. The facility in question had the Rite-Hite style dock locks that hooked the DOT bumper of a trailer in place and wouldn’t let it move. In addition, the dock plates where hydraulic so the lift operator only pushed a button to put the dock plate in place. Sounds like a good combination, right? Well it is awesome, IF USED PROPERLY.

The lift operator, Joe (names have been changed for privacy), was loading a trailer using a dock stocker (sometimes called a Standup CounterBalance lift). When he began loading he engaged the dock lock which made the light green inside showing it was safe to enter. He engaged the dock plate and began loading. When the trailer was nearly full someone walking down the dock decided to help Joe out while he was away from the dock and called the trailer in to be moved. When the trailer as called in to the yard driver. The guy who called the trailer in made sure he unlocked the trailer from the dock and dropped the dock plate. It was great of him to be helpful, EXCEPT this was outside of process.

When Joe came back he noticed his almost full trailer still had room for three pallets. He re-engaged the dock plate and started to drive into the trailer. Did you notice I left out a step? Joe, in his haste, forgot to make sure he pushed the button to lock the trailer back to the dock. So as Joe went into the trailer, the yard drive hooked to the same trailer as he had been instructed. He looked in his mirror and had a green light. He then pulled the trailer from the dock AS JOE WAS ENTERING IT. Joe followed his instincts and jumped from his lift as the trailer shifted. When he jumped he twisted his knee causing a minor knee injury, This minor injury required months of therapy. His lift hit the dock plate on its way to the ground. The hit caused the body of the lift to be damaged beyond financially feasible repair.

An incident investigation was conducted. The investigators determined there were several issues. First and foremost, the operator failed to engage the dock lock when he re-engaged the dock plate. Operator failure was cited as the major safety issue. The person walking down the dock who was being helpful was counseled for failing to follow procedures. Only the operator loading the trailer was authorized to remove dock plate, in this facility. 

Joe the operator was very lucky he didn’t have a more serious injury. The company suffered the destruction of a piece of equipment and two good employees received counseling for failing to follow procedures. This talking point is another real world example of the kind of safety issues that can arise when people forget safety is everyones job.