GRANITI VICENTIA LLC

Employee Is Killed When Crushed By Falling Porcelain Slab

At 2:15 p.m. on August 26, 2022, an employee was picking up broken pieces of porcelain inside a 53 foot trailer at a stone product manufacturing facility. Several A-frame stands with porcelain slabs were damaged in transit, and the employee was using a hammer, shovel, broom and forklift with a trash bin while cleaning up the damaged slabs. The employee was performing cleanup to allow for removal of the A-frame stands from the trailer, including stands that still held porcelain slabs. When a coworker driving the forklift was backing out of the trailer with the trash bin, the slabs fell off the A-frame stand. The employee was bent over and picking up broken on the trailer floor when the slab fell from the stand. The employee was killed when crushed by the slab, sustaining blunt force injuries to the torso and upper extremities and compression of the chest. The slabs were not stored in a secure manner to prevent them from falling, and the banding material for several slabs had been damaged in transit. The banding was not replaced before working adjacent to the stands.