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.
