Please be careful when climbing on Trailers
Here is a short story for all of us to remind our selves of how wrong a day can go.
I haul powder(cement) in pneumatic trailers. The other day I was at a job site that required flags be put on the truck or trailer before entering the flight line. I had been on the same job several days earlier and mounted the flag to my drivers side mirror with no problems other than the flag wanted to get shut in the door.
So, being as that was a pain. I attempted to mount it to the ladder on my trailer. Well things didn't go so well. The last thing I remember, was using a bungee to secure the flag. I think I remember starting to fall, but honestly I really am not sure. I had my shoulders about at trailer top level last I remember. If I truly remember correctly the beginning of the fall, I thought, please God don't let me hit the draw bar for my pull trailer.
Well I got really lucky and just hit the ground, dirt only. If it had been asphalt, concrete or a jagged rock type of terrain I probably would have been permanently crippled or killed. Fortunately, I was wearing a hard hat. I received minor head injuries, the back of my head is all scraped up and I received 4 stitches to my scalp.
I regained my senses to find the paramedics strapping me to a back board and putting a hard collar on me to immobilize my neck. I was taken to the hospital where they checked me over fully. MRI for the head and some other X-rays. Five hours later my wife was able to take me home. My safety guy came to the hospital, asked me what happened, filled out paper work and was kind enough to not say in front of my wife and daughter that I was lucky to be alive or majorly hurt.
If you guys think safety is always on your A$$, be glad they are. They are trying to help prevent dumb accidents like this from happening, and I for one really can appreciate what they are trying to do now, I always really did anyhow. So now I have a couple of days off to heal and then go see the Doc to get released to go back to work (hopefully).
Moral of the story, trailer mounted ladders should be used to only go up and down. If somebody tells you they are safe to work on call B.S. and refuse to do it. I was not told to do it, I just made a really bad decision and am lucky to have survived it. If you must mount something to the truck on a temporary basis, mount it as low as possible to avoid injury. If a customer wants it higher and you feel or know it to be unsafe, refuse to do it. If they really want it on higher they can do it or it won't happen. My take is I won't ask somebody to do something I wouldn't do, so I will just ask to speak to the safety officer for the job, explain my take on it and take the load back to the shipper if I can't make my case.
Some of the old timers will think I am dumb for what happened, that's okay. As long as I get the point across to new and veteran drivers who think it won't happen to them. I can live with what ever I am called or any amount of fun that is poked at me. Be safe out there and make it home in one piece.
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