Forklift Expert Witness Examines Fatal Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Auto Parts Warehouse

Case Overview

This case involves a female worker who was killed by carbon monoxide emissions from a forklift while working in an automotive parts warehouse. On the date of the incident in question, the decedent was working on a gas powered forklift in the warehouse of an automotive parts supply business that was owned and operated by her family. At the time of the accident, she was working in what was described as a confined workspace, with no external ventilation. She was working on placing new stock on shelves at at the time of the incident and was unsupervised. At some point, a coworker went to check on her and found that she was unconscious and breathing lightly. She was taken to the hospital by ambulance, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. According to the owners of the shop, a third party repair company had performed work on the company’s forklifts shortly before the accident. It was claimed that the forklift repair company failed to replace an old carburetor that was causing a large amount of CO to be emitted in the confined space.

Questions to the Forklift expert and their responses

Please discuss your experience in forklift maintenance.

I provided engineering instructions for forklift maintenance and modifications while in the engineering department of a heavy equipment rental company. I have replaced and rebuilt carburetors on forklifts of these natures on multiple occasions, as well as trained and supervised repair workers during the same operation.

How do you ensure the safety of those who operate the forklifts?

Proper training of all repair personnel, monitoring operations while repairs are underway, and maintaining extensive and accurate records of all repair work that is to be performed, is vital to prevent these kinds of unfortunate accidents from occurring. I have investigated a number of forklift incidents, including one that caused a similar case of carbon monoxide poisoning because of a carburetor problem. Additionally, OSHA regulations require that internal combustion powered forklifts should not be operated within a warehouse without adequate ventilation.

About the expert

This expert has more than 30 years of experience in the field of crane and heavy equipment operations and more than 20 years of experience in the field of forensic engineering. In addition to holding a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of South Carolina, he is a licensed professional engineer in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Minnesota. He is NCEES registered both as a model engineer and with the United States Council for International Engineering Practice. During his career, this expert has designed crane systems, supervised installation, tested and certified lifting equipment even served as a project engineer for the maintenance and certification of nuclear weapon lifting and handling systems. He formerly served as a mechanical engineer and nuclear engineer at Charleston Naval Shipyard, as a supervisory engineer at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, and as a district engineering manager at Engineering and Design Testing Corp. Currently, he is a senior consulting engineer at a forensic engineering firm in South Carolina.

E-014054

Specialties:

Forklift