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Target fined $176K by OSHA after worker dies from fall at Burlington location
The man, 45, died from head trauma when he stepped out of the basket of the vehicle to cut plastic straps and fell 7 feet onto a concrete floor.
After an employee at a Target in Burlington, Mass. fell and died from a forklift earlier this year, the company will pay a fine of $176,000, according to reports from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
On the afternoon of Feb. 14, the “ship to store manager” was using a wave lift powered industrial vehicle to cut plastic straps off of new boxes at the Target on Cambridge Street in Burlington, according to OSHA.
The man, 45, stepped out of the basket of the vehicle to cut plastic straps when he fell 7 feet onto a concrete floor. He died from head trauma, OHSA reported. The man was not identified in the report.
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When the employee stepped out of the basket, the vehicle should have activated an “audible beeping” alarm if the lift was above 22 inches, according to OSHA.
The fire department that responded “confirmed that someone had disengaged the alarm, and that the PIV had been moved after the employee had fallen, but was still in its raised position with one of the doors open,” OSHA reported.
Target was fined $113,000 for not keeping exit routes free and unobstructed and $1,000 for not examining industrial trucks before being placed in service.
They also paid a $62,000 fine for not ensuring that employees on a walking-working surface above four feet were protected from falling, which OSHA previously cited Target for in 2019 in North Attleboro.
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“The health and well-being of our team members is very important to us, and we are deeply saddened anytime someone is harmed in our facilities,” a Target spokesperson said in a statement. “We take numerous precautions and have extensive procedures in place to prevent workplace accidents and create a safe working environment, and we engage with our government partners to meet or exceed all regulatory safety requirements.”
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