"lost his balance and...."

The hazard of improper load securement on flatbed trucks/trailers is a hazard that many companies do not realize until an incident occurs. Sadly, most of the incidents are fatal. Here is a recent incident highlighting the need for proper load securement training for all truckers.

A worker died after falling from a truck carrying recycling material. The worker age 55, lost his balance and suffered several injuries as a result of the fall. The accident was occurred one morning during the second week of May 2021 in Brazil.

Firefighters were called and tried to save the victim. With the drop of about 3 meters, the worker injured the occital region of the skull, the back of the head. When help arrived at the scene, he was lying on his stomach and lifeless.

"According to witnesses, the truck was stopped with a load of recycled aluminum material. The Fire Department immediately performed cardio pulmonary resuscitation maneuvers until the arrival of the Samu team, when the necessary procedures were carried out", informed the Fire Department , in note.

Despite all his efforts, the worker did not resist. He would be on top of the load to see if it was tied up properly. The victim's son was also at the scene of the accident, who reported the accident to the authorities. The Military Police was called, as well as the Criminal Investigation. The Civil Police will carry out an investigation into the case.

We offer our sincere condolences to the deceased worker’s family, friends, and coworkers. We pray for the deceased workers son who either was with him when the incident occurred or was there shortly after. We pray that the son knows that there was nothing he could have done to save his father. The damage to the skull was too great.

Improper load securement accidents have been reported with quite regularity over the past decade on the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog. We are currently working with companies, trade associations across the globe to develop a document/diagram for proper load securement tips. We will update our readers on this project.

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