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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has fined a major supermarket chain for using faulty pallet trucks. According to the investigation, the Columbus division of the supermarket chain had failed to train employees how to safely use the pallet trucks and had not kept them in safe working order.
The faulty truck that led to an OSHA investigation had defects in the horns and brakes due to a damaged power cable. OSHA issued a “willful” violation, since the company had not inspected the pallet truck or attempted to repair it. Willful violations are very costly, and OSHA fined the Columbus supermarket $130,900.
Can Powered Vehicles Cause Fatal Work Accidents?
OSHA refers to pallet jacks as “powered industrial trucks”. According to OSHA, 100 employees are killed every year while operating powered industrial trucks and another 95,000 are injured. Most powered industrial truck related accidents involve workers being hit and rollover accidents. Employees are often killed in fatal workplace accidents due to a lack of training necessary to use these vehicles safely.
Several weeks ago, we wrote about an increase in fatal workplace accidents throughout Ohio. According to OSHA’s Cincinnati office, the increase in deaths is due to a lack of training on part of the employers. Ohio companies failing to train workers to use powered vehicles could contribute to an already high number of work accidents.
Employees who are injured by pallet jacks or other powered vehicles might be able to receive workers’ compensation benefits. Our readers can learn more about the workers’ compensation process by exploring our website. Follow Larrimer & Larrimer on Facebook for regular updates on our firm.
Larrimer & Larrimer, LLC – Columbus Workers’ Comp Attorneys