Conveyor Operator Dies After Being Runover by a Belly Dump Trailer

A 33-year-old conveyor operator died of injuries he sustained when a belly dump trailer that was preparing to unload gravel ran over him. On the day of the incident, the victim had been operating the generator of the conveyor system that moved gravel that had been dumped from belly dump trailers. The truck driver involved in the incident was having trouble opening the gates of the belly dump trailer. While the truck was stopped in the unloading position, the victim went under the trailer to manually open the belly dump doors. The driver was not aware that the victim was under the trailer area. The driver pulled away from the unloading platform and the victim was run over by the rear dual tires located on the passenger side of the trailer. A coworker placed a 911 call to emergency rescue personnel who arrived and pronounced the victim dead. MN FACE investigators concluded that, in order to reduce the likelihood of similar occurrences, the following guidelines should be followed:

• employers should ensure that belly dump trailers are equipped with a manual gate release lever located on the side of the trailer rather than underneath the trailer;
• employers should ensure that employees only perform tasks which they have been trained to do
• employers should design, develop, and implement a comprehensive safety program.