Tag: personal injury

Forklift injures worker

By Sterling Anthony, CPP, expert in packaging, marketing, logistics, and human-factors.

Synopsis

The Plaintiff was struck by a forklift truck inside a factory.  The Plaintiff had been sent to the factory by a temporary employment agency.  Plaintiff sued the factory, alleging negligence owed to breach of standards related to material handling, forklift operations, and safe pedestrian traffic.

I was retained by Plaintiff’s attorney.

Opinions

Defendant breached the standard that a forklift operator must be certified.  The fact that the involved operator had experience with forklifts was not an acceptable substitute for certification.

At the time of the accident, the forklift was being operated in reverse, because the height of the load restricted the operator’s vision; however, the back-up alarm, which warns pedestrians, wasn’t working, a condition that had been known by the factory managers but had been allowed to go uncorrected.  As a result, Plaintiff was denied the auditory warning that a forklift was operating nearby.

The accident occurred in an area of the factory that did not have convex mirrors stationed at every aisle intersection, including the intersection closest to the accident.  As a result, Plaintiff was denied the safety of having his presence detected by properly positioned convex mirrors.

The factory did not have floor markings that delineate pedestrian aisles and pedestrian areas, nor was the floor marked with stencils that identify an area as one in which forklifts operate.  As a result, Plaintiff had to carry out his assigned duties, which included traveling to and from parts inventory, without safeguards relative to forklift traffic.

All of the solutions to the inadequacies that contributed to the accident were readily available to the factory and could have been implemented economically and on a short schedule.

Defendant was aware that accidents between forklift and pedestrian carry a high potential for injury and even death.  Defendant admitted to knowing that OSHA has requirements aimed at preventing such accidents.

Result

The case settled.

Sterling Anthony can be contacted via 100 Renaissance Center Box 176,  Detroit, MI 48243; 313-531-1875; thepackagingexpertwitness@gmail.com; www.thepackagingexpertwitness.com

 

Packaging fails, worker injured

by Sterling Anthony, CPP, expert in packaging, marketing, logistics, human-factors, and warnings.

Synopsis

A worker for a parcel-post delivery service was manually sorting packages off a conveyor.  One of the packages was a corrugated box containing an industrial blade.  The blade had cut through the box, resulting in exposure of the sharp edge.  Unaware of said exposure, the worker suffered lacerations to one of his hands, causing permanent damage to nerves and ligaments.

The worker sued the manufacturer of the blade, alleging defective packaging, an unreasonably dangerous product, and failure-to-warn.

I was retained by the attorney for the Plaintiff.

Opinions 

Because the blade was packaged loose inside the box, the resulting freedom of movement allowed the sharp edge of the blade to contact against the box, eventually cutting through it.

Because the box was oversized relative to the dimensions of the blade, the relationship increased the ability of the blade to move inside the box.

It was reasonably foreseeable that an unrestrained sharp blade can cut through a corrugated box, a common-sense example being a box-cutter instrument.

It was reasonably foreseeable that the size and weight of the blade would give impetus to contacts against the box, sufficient for the blade to cut through the box.

It was reasonably foreseeable that the physical forces (impacts, vibrations, compressions) encountered throughout the parcel post delivery environment would increase the already reasonably foreseeable probability that the blade would cut through the box.

There was no printed warnings on the box that it contained a sharp-edged instrument; as such, Plaintiff was never on notice as to the hazard.

There were alternative ways to package the blade for safety, and such ways were technologically and economically feasible.

Result

The case settled.

Sterling Anthony, CPP, can be contacted through: 100 Renaissance Center, Box 176, Detroit, MI 48243; 313-531-1875; thepackagingexpertwitness@gmail.com; www.thepackagingexpertwitness.com