Overloaded shelves can cause serious injuries in seconds

On Behalf of | Oct 9, 2015 | Industrial, Manufacturing And Warehouse Accidents

The problem with overloaded shelves in a warehouse setting is that they may come down with no warning whatsoever, giving employees no chance to get out of the way. That’s exactly what happened in one famous video of a shelving collapse that has been making the rounds.

The worker in question is taking items from the shelves, and standing next to a ladder. However, he does not appear to be using the ladder at the time of the accident, instead he’sstanding with a hand up, looking at the shelves. That’s important to note because the worker does not cause the collapse himself—by adding too much weight—but does nothing to influence the unit.

Then it all comes crashing down. The shelf falls away from the wall, tipping toward the worker, with all of the weight on the front. There is a split second when the worker tries to brace and stop it, but it’s too heavy. The shelf ends up falling all the way down and slamming into the next shelf in the row, with the worker trapped between. All of the items cascade off the shelves and fall on the worker.

While other employees quickly run over to dig the person out, it’s easy to see that serious injuries—or even death—could have come from the accident if the worker had been struck in the head, throat or chest by the falling shelf, which clearly had a lot of weight behind it.

Freak accidents happen in seconds, and it’s important for those who are injured in these accidents to know what rights they have to compensation in New Jersey, especially for life-changing injuries.

Source: MHL News, “Warehouse Disasters Caught on Video,” Tom Andel, accessed Oct. 08, 2015