Attorney – Texas Amazon Employees are Injured in Forklift Accidents – Pt. 3

According to the report on serious injuries prepared by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) an Amazon employee in Dallas, Texas, was seriously injured on October 17, 2018, at 33333 LBJ Freeway.  This is the same location where the last injury detailed in this series took place. Amazon is not a likely subscriber to the Texas workers’ comp program.

The summary of the Texas forklift work accident follows:

• On October 17, 2018, an Amazon employee in Dallas was walking in a work area where pedestrians and forklifts traverse. The employee tripped over the forks on a stand-up forklift and fell to the floor. He suffered a hip injury and was hospitalized.  

Forklift Safety Guidelines

The following are some safety guidelines that relate to forklift operators and encounters with co-workers:

• Pedestrians and forklift operators need to be aware that when a forklift is traveling, one of the potential hazards is being struck or crushed by the forklift.
• Pedestrian and forklift traffic must be separated as much as possible in the work environment. Pedestrians should use established walkways with guardrails, and the use of the walkways should be strictly enforced.
• Forklifts should never travel with passengers. [29 CFR 1910.178(m)(3)]

• Forklift operators must never drive up to a person who is in front of a fixed object, such as a bench. [29 CFR 1910.178(m)(1)]
• Forklift operators must not travel in a way that puts a co-worker at risk if the brakes failed, the wrong lever was pushed, or if the forklift jumped forward.

Learn more in Pt. 1 and Part 2 of this ongoing series.

The purpose of work injury posts on this website is to provide helpful resources for workers who have been injured in Texas work accidents. This is particularly applicable when the employer has opted not to be a workers’ comp participant in the state. This site never purposes to infer misdeeds on the part of organizations or individuals.

–Guest Contributor

Written By: smchugh

smchugh