Fractures

A machine operator and his co-worker were removing the gear boxes (weighing between 300 and 400 pounds) from the roll mill machine. His co-worker was using the forklift with a lifting strap attachment to lift a gear box off of the roll mill machine to be serviced when another, unbolted gear box got caught on one of the forks of the forklift causing it to break free and moved towards the machine operator. The machine operator moved away from the flying gear box, fell to the ground, and hit his head on a machine guard that was on the floor, causing a laceration to his ear and the top of his head and two cracked neck vertebrae.