Warehouse Stockpicker Death Reminds Us of Dangers in the Workplace - June 22, 2010

The sad death of a warehouse worker last week in O'Fallon, Missori highlights the dangers of work related injuries. These incidents are always heart wrenching and everyone's sympathies go out to family and friends.

 Kelly S. McDaniel was alone at the time of the accident, when he was operating a lift called a stock picker to retrieve a sofa-love seat from the warehouse for a customer. Mr. McDaniel was found pinned between the stock picker and the sofa. When he was found, CPR was administered by the manager until paramedics arrived. Mr. McDaniel died later from his injuries at St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles. A stock picker is a warehouse machine used to raise and lower heavy objects.

A spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Wednesday that it was investigating the accident. From October 1, 2009 through May 1, 2010, 649 hard working individuals were fatally killed on the job. OSHA releases a weekly report of fatalities and catastrophes. For the week ending May 1, 2010, which is the most recent week available from OSHA, the following 9 fatalities and the sad and often sudden circumstances under which they happened were reported:

A worker was standing on the back of a pickup, loading PVC pipe, lost his balance and fell from the truck, striking his head while working for Rice Plumbing of Beaville, Texas.

A worker was hit in the head by a broken valve and related piping after the high-pressurized water line blew while working for Helmerick & Payne International Drilling Company of Sycamore, Pennsylvania.

A worker was loading a semi with the use of a drag conveyor in a corn storage building and was engulfed in grain while working for Battle Creek Farmers Cooperative of Bloomfield, Nebraska.

A track maintenance supervisor was electrocuted after coming into contact with a high voltage rail while working in the capital track group for the New York Transit Authority, Division of Tracks in Forest Hills, New York.

A Nye County Deputy Sheriff was shot to death while responding to a domestic violence call in Pahrump, Nevada.

A worker fell approximately 18 feet onto a slate porch while installing a slate roof on a residence while working for Griffin Roofing, Incorporated of Weddington, North Carolina.

A worker had cut the last band holding a bundle of pipe together and was crushed after the poly pipe shifted while working for BRB Contractors Inc. of Angola, Kansas.

A worker was repairing a hose on a hydraulic dock plate and the dock plate fell on the worker while he was working for Schreiber Foods, Inc of Stephenville, Texas

A worker was to determine why a boom section of a concrete pumping truck would not retract. A bolt on the holding valve was loosened and nearly removed, high pressure hydraulic fluid blew the valve and bolt from the cylinder, striking the worker who was sitting in the boom while working for Golden Arrow Concrete Pumping of Houston, Texas