A Goodwill store in the state of Washington was fined $9,000 last week by the state’s labor department in connection with a fatal forklift accident that occurred last August.
Investigators said the stores management should have provided more training for a forklift operator who accidentally ran over and killed a 69-year-old pedestrian in the store’s parking lot.
Chuck E. Lee, of Bothell, Washington, was walking through a parking lot near a retail district in Lynnwood, Washington, on August 18th, when he was stuck by a forklift, according to news reports. The man was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The 46-year-old driver of the forklift, who was an employee of a Goodwilll store that is located in the retail district, told police and fire investigators that hew as using his vehicle to haul boxes of merchandise when he saw a flash of “blue” go in front of his forklift and he slammed on the brakes.
“It appears that the forklift driver and the victim, neither one of them saw each other,” said Det. Brian Jorgensen of the Lynwood police department. “It was a big box, but it wasn’t lifted very high so whether he could see over or around it, I don’t know at this point.”
The load he had been carrying apparently fell onto the victim, crushing him, police said. The victim apparently had been heading to the Goodwill store when the accident occurred.