NewsChannel 5 investigators are reporting a horribly sad story. A man working at Kerry Sweet Ingredients at 8021 New Hampshire got stuck between two forklifts around 11:00 am this morning. The man was rushed to St. John’s Mercy Medical Center but did not survive his injuries. The company, Kerry Sweet Ingredients, is obviously in shock. My thoughts go out to his family, friends, and the co-workers who are all left wondering how this could have happened.
OSHA is investigating this fatality. OSHA will look into whether there were proper procedures in place to prevent an injury like this. Was there a designated area for forklifts to maneuver? Were the employees who had to wear earplugs, and thus could not hear warning sounds, kept in a designated area? Were there warning signs? Were the forklift drivers trained? Were the employees trained on how to watch for dangers at the plant? All of these questions must be answered and OSHA will certainly look into all of them. In addition to a potential wrongful death lawsuit against the owner of the property, the family of this man may also be able to file a worker’s compensation case against the plant. Finally, a Missouri personal injury attorney should also investigate into whether there is a products liability case against the manufacturer of these forklifts. It may be the case that the operators did everything right but one, or both, of the forklifts malfunctioned.
Regardless as to why this happened, it is clearly a tragedy.
Industrial Accident Death, ksdk.com, January 14, 2011