Ryder Systems Incorporated: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Nov 11, 2020: Employee injures knees and arms when struck by falling load

At 10:41 p.m. on November 11, 2020, an employee was placing labels on boxes. A coworker was transporting a load of vacuums on a forklift that was two pallets high. After making a right turn, the material began to wobble and started to fall. The employee was facing the opposite direction of the falling load and the coworker unsuccessfully attempted to gain her attention. The employee was struck by falling boxes and sustained unspecified serious injuries to her knees and arms. The employee was hospitalized for treatment.

Incident on Jan 7, 2009: Employee is struck and injured by backing forklift

At approximately 6:40 a.m. on January 7, 2009, Employee #1 was attempting to rep air the lift gate on a trailer. Employee #1 was assessing the jammed lift gate. The lift gate appeared to have been backed up too fast into the loading dock and had jammed the gears of the lift gate into the track causing a jam due to the e ars not being able to slide freely in the track. The hydraulic lift gate that wa s approximately 9 to 10 feet in width. This lift gate was attached to a 50 foot long trailer that was 13 feet wide. Employee #1 estimated a repair time of appro ximately 15 to 20 minutes, and then got a 15-inch pry bar from his truck to atte mpt repairs. After approximately 15 to 20 minutes of attempting to free up the r amp, an employee of Bay Area Beverage Company (Employee #2) offered the assistan ce of a fork truck to free up the ramp. Employee #1 accepted and then got a chai n from his service vehicle. The chain was then wrapped around the top right side of the lift gate. The forklift was then pulled up to the right rear passenger s ide of trailer behind the lift gate. The chain was then attached to forklift abo ve the forks and on the frame. Employee #1 positioned himself at the lift gate c ontrol panel located at the rear of the trailer and attempted to open the lift g ate. At this time the forklift was putting reverse pressure on the lift gate and the forks of the forklift raised off the ground approximately two feet at which time Employee #1 told Employee #2 to stop the forklift as it was not going to w ork. Employee #2 then offered a larger forklift for the job. A larger forklift w as hooked up in the same manner as the prior forklift and the aforementioned pro cedure was once again utilized. The forks of the larger forklift did not rise of f the ground. But, after approximately 10 to 15 seconds of attempts to free the lift gate with the larger forklift, it was determined that this attempt was not going to work either. So Employee #1 told Employee #2 to stop. At this point, it was determined that the trailer would need to go to the shop to be repaired. Em ployee #1 then removed the chain and returned it to the service box on his vehic le. Employee #1 then returned to retrieve his tools and reevaluate the situation to see if there was anything else he could do to repair the lift gate onsite. W hile reevaluating the lift gate, Employee #1 tripped on the forks of the forklif t, but he did not fall to the ground. Employee #1 then informed Employee #2 that he could move the forklift out of the area; Employee #1's position at this time was on the rear driver's side parallel to the trailer. Employee #2 then began b acking up the forklift, and Employee #1 stepped from the side of the trailer and was struck by the backing forklift and suffered a broken collarbone, five broke n ribs and punctures of both lungs, requiring hospitalization in excess of 24 ho urs. It appeared that Employee #2 must have been turning at the same time he was backing up the forklift and both parties were not paying attention to the situa tion. While onsite, it was determined that the forklift in question had a back u p alarm that was in good working condition. Emergency response crews were called , and Richmond Fire Department arrived onsite for initial treatment, Employee #1 was transported to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek for further treatme nt. Employer did not inform Cal/OSHA of the serious injury within the eight-hour reporting period.