Forklift Accident Kills Port Worker in Portsmouth, VA

4/2/2011
Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton
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Forklift Accident Kills Port Worker in Portsmouth, VA

APM Terminals in Portsmouth, Virginia (VA), saw its seventh on-the-job fatality in the past six years on March 28, 2011, when a forklift driver drove over a stevedore. The accident took the life of 38-year-old Ceres Marine Terminals employee Paula Bellamy. She was struck by containers being carried on the fork while she was guiding opertions of a crane from ground level.

The Daily Press reported the cause of the accident this way:

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.

Investigators questioned but have not charged the forklift driver.

Managers at the largest commercial freight port in Virginia have pledged to use any findings of deficiencies in the training, supervision or performance of employees to improve safety. In a somewhat morbidly ironic commentary on that promise, APM's homepage already features a digital road sign claiming "Safety is Job #1."

Stricter rules to protect workers' lives and health could be one the few positive results from this latest tragic workplace death. Those rules will only prove effective, however, if upper-level managers, foremen and employees in all jobs and at all levels follow them. No regulation can overcome negligence.

Having represented many railroad workers injured in on-the-job accidents, either through the fault of another person or due to defective equipment, I know well how dangerous working in places like shipyards where hundreds of large vehicles are continually in motion can be. I am saddened that the risk because reality for the APM/Ceres stevedore. My condolences go out to her family and friends.

EJL

Category: Wrongful Death

Labels: accident APM Terminals Attorney Ceres Marine Terminals Cooper Crash dead driver employee forklift injuries killed negligence port Portsmouth safety stevedore VA worker

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have experience handling wrongful death cases. We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia if your family member or loved one was killed as a result of someone else's carelessness.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been named to the National Million Dollar Advocates Form since 2009 and listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Shapiro and Lewis have also been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010. Fewer than 5 percent of lawyers are chosen for this professional honor. In addition, ours was the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms.

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Forklift Accident Kills Port Worker in Portsmouth, VA

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