Saturday, April 11, 2015

WORKER STRUCK AND KILLED BY FORKLIFT AT APM TERMINALS PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA









APRIL 11, 2011

PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA

OSHA is investigating a fatality in which a worker at a marine terminal was struck by a forklift carrying a large load. 

Paula Bellamy was working as a “slinger,” someone who guides a crane operator, for Ceres Marine Terminals in Portsmouth, VA.

Bellamy was standing on a pier and using a radio to guide a crane operator when a forklift driver nearby picked up steel bins.

Police say the forklift driver’s vision was obstructed by the bins carried on the front of the vehicle. As he moved the forklift forward, he struck Bellamy.

She was rushed to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.

OSHA requires forklift drivers to travel in reverse if the load obstructs forward view.

This incident serves as a good reminder to workers why the OSHA rule exists.

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PORT WORKER KILLED IN FORKLIFT ACCIDENT AT APM TERMINALS

MARCH 28, 2011

PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA

A worker at APM Terminals died Monday morning of injuries she sustained in an accident involving a forklift.

Police spokeswoman Jan Westerbeck said the longshoreman, Paula Bellamy, 38, of Portsmouth, was pronounced dead less than an hour after being struck by a forklift on the waterfront.

At the time she was hit, Bellamy was working as a "slinger," or a guide to a crane operator, for Ceres Marine Terminals Inc., a stevedoring company that provides labor for unloading cargo ships at marine terminals operated by the Virginia Port Authority.

Bellamy was standing on the pier and using a radio to guide a crane operator when a forklift driver nearby picked up steel bins, likely used for collecting locking pins removed from cargo containers as they come off ships.

When those bins fill, forklifts similar to those used in warehouses and other industrial operations pluck them off the concrete berth and move them out of the way.

On Monday, the forklift driver moved the forklift forward, running into Bellamy, Portsmouth police said.

The driver's vision was obstructed by the bins carried on the front of his vehicle, according to police.

According to marine terminal regulations published by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, forklift drivers are supposed to travel in reverse if the load their vehicle is carrying obstructs the forward view.

A port authority spokesman said Bellamy was immediately rushed to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Police said she was pronounced dead at 8:59 a.m.
"It's tragic," said Joe Harris, a port authority spokesman. "Any time there's a loss of life at the terminals, it's a tragedy."

Harris said the port authority will review the accident in cooperation with the Portsmouth Police Department and OSHA.

"Any time something like this happens, you take a look at all circumstances to see if there's a way to make things safer, or if this was an (isolated), horrible industrial accident," Harris said.

Westerbeck said investigators were questioning the forklift driver, also employed by Ceres. Police did not identify him on Monday.

Two Ceres executives did not return calls seeking comment.

Wayne Cochran, president of the International Longshoremen's Association Local 970, said he could not provide any additional details about the accident.

Bellamy is the seventh person to die in industrial accidents at the state's marine terminals since 2005.

The last reported death was when 43-year-old dock foreman David B. Weiland was killed in December 2009. Weiland died after a vehicle used to transport cargo containers struck a 105-foot light pole that fell and crushed his car.

Following an investigation into that accident, OSHA levied a $7,000 fine against Virginia International Terminals, the state-owned port authority's operating arm, for what it called a "serious" violation of the safety agency's regulations.