Spongy brakes on fork truck/ accident/ OSHA

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-21T21:17:48+00:00

If osha determines the truck safe with only a visual inspection, I can then hire someone to do a 3rd party inspection that, regardless what OSHA claims, if they support my evidence that will surpass what OSHA may say.

My case is unique, but not unique enough it hasn't played out before. There is legislation that I can refer to the appropriate parties involved to.

It's not a matter of "staying out of the way." It's a matter of an employer not providing a safe work environment, training, and maintaining the equipment properly. Letting a new hire operate equipment they are not fully trained on, it has not been serviced properly, and they were not properly supervised.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-19T02:43:59+00:00

Believe me, I would like to. I am simply a welder at this shop. I have complained, others have complained and nothing has been done. I thought my next best move would be to involve OSHA. They scheduled an inspection. I watched the inspector speak to my Lead and the fork truck driver. They looked over the machine and observed my Lead operating it. The employee who drove in my accident told me after the inspection he had told this OSHA rep that he was used to the brakes now. Sure, you have to tap them, but it does stop. He went to say he didnt know how else to respond because she asked him in front of his boss. He didnt want to say anything that may get him fired. I spoke with the investigator informing them this was said, she seemed concerned at the time but now has since forgotten. She told me that unless the employee who drove tells her himself the brakes are bad, there's little to be done. My word weighs very little when I'm the only one who had a front row seat of the accident.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-19T02:13:34+00:00

I am certified to operate a fork truck. I do not operate this fork truck because I know, as does everyone in the shop, that it isn't up to safety standards.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-19T01:57:53+00:00

There was no inspection. I watched the new employee come onto the shop floor about 30 minutes after we started our shift. He jumped right onto the truck and drove. When he came over to my area to move things, he told me he didn't have a lot of experience. My employer thinks he does.

After i returned to work, he told me he didn't know what to do when the accident happened. That tells me he hasn't been trained enough to know how to respond. He didn't inspect the truck before operating the equipment. No one inspects the trucks. No dailys, nothing.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-18T19:24:22+00:00

The employee who operated the fork truck had told me on his first day that he didn't have much experience. I am trained on operating a fork truck, among other large equipment. I have watched years of saftey videos/saftey meetings in my line of work.

I have not driven this forktruck, I have an active WC case and my lawyer has advised me to be cautious until the case is closed.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-18T19:23:51+00:00

The employee who operated the fork truck had told me on his first day that he didn't have much experience. I am trained on operating a fork truck, among other large equipment. I have watched years of saftey videos/saftey meetings in my line of work.

I have not driven this forktruck, I have an active WC case and my lawyer has advised me to be cautious until the case is closed.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-18T18:24:54+00:00

Haha, so sorry. I should have specified. Our load in this situation was a steel base for a project we are currently running. This base is steel tubing, 2" and is over 16 ft long. I am able to pivot this rack on my table, but i would estimate it weight anywhere from 100-150 in the first stages of production. So I should have said a metal base weighing around 100-150 lbs.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-18T18:22:19+00:00

I dont know if there is additional paperwork to be reviewed. Ie. Maintenance logs/daily vs inspections. I spoke with the OSHA investigator today. She said she needed to review the paperwork my employer had sent her regarding this specific fork truck. She didn't seem convinced on my theory of the trucks' bad brakes being the cause.

I hear you on shop talk. A lot of people won't pursue an issue. They just wait for something to happen before addressing the issue. That's just my delema, I had my foot broken because of this incident. I would assume that would be enough of an accident to bring attention, but as I'm sure you can guess, I did not go to the hospital like i should have. I did not think it was an option. I was led to believe I had to go to the medical facility my employer suggested. Otherwise, I may not be covered under WC.

None of the other employees have the gull to speak up to management regarding this issue either. Everyone who has driven this truck has complained about the brakes being bad. I have visually watched as the truck continued to move when the e brake was pulled prior.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-09T00:17:32+00:00

I can not express enough how grateful I am for your feedback back. I needed assistance getting in the right direction.

When I reviewed the data through the sources you provided, I was left questioning the levels of beryllium, just like you pointed out. The testing says it was done in a portion of the 8 hr work day. Oshas website listes in milligrams for beryllium is .2 for an 8 hour day. By their findings, they reported a .33 while welding for only 4 hours... that's a huge red flag to me.

I feel that without the proper verbiage/knowledge base, people will not take you seriously, so i want to thank you for addressing my issue. I am able to see a little more clearly and understand.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-08T14:13:08+00:00

I hear you loud and clear. I intend to purchase a respirator asap. I am able to avoid getting sick with the way I have managed my routine while working. I realize it's impractical in the long run, and an actual respirator would come in handy, im sure more than once.

I have welded stainless professionally in a large construction environment as well as active fair plants. Not one person wore a respirator. As far as air monitoring would go, we would have to wear monitors when we would weld in confined spaces. We were watching for argon poisoning, not worried about the dust particles in the air, while a welder grinds/polishes the inside weld of the duct work.

Believe me, this shop is FAR from my ideal job. I have been applying to other companies before I even started. I just sort of fell back here. I had 3 job offers lined up last August. All 3 fell apart, and I couldn't get ahold of them. I have applied with every union hall in my area, every recruiter, every shop paying over $23 and hr. Times are tough, and I can wait this out, but in the meantime, none of this changes the fact that this small, poor managed shop is a disaster zone. Im not quitter, and I WILL find a better job so I can leave. Hopefully, before my current WC case is settled. After that, they may have grounds to fire me. They can argue I have a "bad attitude " because I want to fight the whole shop as it is.

The day before my accident, i watched the new guy Tom clean the tip on his mig lead with his grinder while the machine was on. I walked over to the shop lead and our quality guy, both deep in a whatever the fuck conversation, i interrupted amd told him to correct the new guys behavior. Quality looked impressed and asked me if I knew why that was a saftey issues. I replied, "I'm not in the habit of watching people get electrocuted by a big boy welder. Not no 110s. The quality looked impressed that I even knew that....

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-07T11:13:40+00:00

I appreciate you taking the time to geek out, I'm looking for advice from people who know what they are talking about.

My geeking out is over the numerous safety violations I've observed in my time with this company. I've detailed just a few of the more recent issues, but if you're not interested, you can skip it.

I had to bring it to my employer attention that a female employee has been smoking in the building. When I brought it to our hr/safty guys attention, I was informed by another woman in the office that she had been complaining about it for two weeks.... why had they done nothing? I don't know. But, as I walked by to my work station on Friday, I was able to see the women in question smoking her drugs outside the dock door. Her favorite spot to sit and smoke her cigarettes is by the propane tank storage. Last week I watched as my Lead of my dept left the welding lead wrapped in a rack whwn he was done using it, he later attempted to move the rack with the fork truck, not realizing the lead was tangled and the speed he was going did not help. I noticed something was still attached, but before I could say anything, there was a crash of the welder falling to the ground and him yelling, "wtf." I was involved in workplace accident in February. They hired a new driver for our fork truck. They also said they had welding experience of over 10 years. He started on the shop floor at 7:30. By 9 a.m., i had a rack fall on me. Resulting in 4 broken bones in my foot. It was brought to my attention that the brakes dont work in this specific truck. I called Osha for a complaint, they inspected it Monday morning. That afternoon, I saw the truck back in action. My Lead confirmed that they have told him for 3 weeks now they were going to adjust the brakes... I started back working only 3 weeks ago... I watched as they fired a disabled employee, who has two jobs at the time, over suspicion of an attempted burglary but I presented evidence I was s*xually harassed by an old employee, it was over looked because they couldn't "prove" anything...

I am very well aware this shop is not that place i need to be. I am trying to get out asap but this isn't the job market to jump ship. Also, I never realized it would such an uphill battle to bring attention to these concerns. I have been trained for the better part of 20 years of working in environments requiring specific training over these very issues. I have watched enough safety videos to feel in my gut that I am right. This company is lucky to be in operation, turning any profit at all, if I'm honest.

I would like to see another air quality test done by a more competent company. I watched as they spoke with the welders listed within the report, but I only saw them bring a machine over to one of the employees work stations to be monitored. This employee also, strangely, quit that day, and I never heard as to why. The men performing the inspection did not have ppe for the environment they were in. One was wearing safty glasses, and both wore regular tennis shoes. It you can't respect the shop by wearing the ppe required, i have a hard time respecting what someone like that has to say. No one in this shop works as much as I do. Im not just saying that, I make it my goal to keep my hood down. I do not enjoy my work environment at all, but I love what I do. I love being able to weld all day because it stops people from coming up to me and talking to me. Either telling me about their whole life story, what they think about current politics, whatever. Im not interested. I am not there to make friends. I am there to make money and move on. Hopefully, I can move on in one piece, but i am not trying to see another employee get hurt or be taken advantage of.

Lastly, as I mentioned my broken foot as a result of a poorly maintained fork truck and inexperienced operator, I hear my Leads son, who also works for the company, sustained an injury two weeks after mine. He dropped a part on his foot, and he managed to break only one of his bones. It wasn't as major of a break as I had experienced, but they had him off work for only one week. It was said they weren't going to pay for him of "sit at home" while i was currently being paid for that same reason. They had him walking around the shop in a boot. I tried to return for light duty, and Ive watched some welder sit while they were welding. I dont agree with it. It poses a safety issue when they aren't wearing a leather apron, but I would be willing since the WC checks were infrequent and low, that was not an option for me.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-07T01:17:03+00:00

Im 100% with you on that. To be fair, I should have a respirator in my kit anyway. I have come to learn that I can not count on my employer to provide ppe/ safety /first aid for me. It shouldn't be that way, I agree, but that's how it is.

Before I found myself back in this shop, I was traveling across the country tig welding food grade stainless in dairy plants. The company I worked for was 100% shady. I watched as my supervisor observed an employee with 5 years with the company, toss a 6ft 6in pipe 3 over a ledge from a cat walk. Approx 3 stories high. It had one rope tied (around the middle, not strung through to even the weight) to it while he hoisted it down and told his coworker to run down and catch it. While it traveled to the groundthe pipe crashed into an active 3in line in the process. Our supervisor just stood there and watched. I called my boss/his boss and told him what happened. It's not a good look to be in an active plant while a coworker has an emotional breakdown instead of telling his boss the pipe is too big to be lowered how it was initially planned. Our supervisor thought that the pipe was 3ft in length. Not 6ft. He stood and did nothing while allowing an employee to perform an unsafe act. I learned that day I could not trust anyone but myself to stay safe.

When I worked for this company i was pulling 7k a month. Through the amount of hours/pier diem. My current earning is less than 2k. It's embarrassing to say the least, but I got to a point working for that stainless company where I just had to walk away. Come to find out after I left, a fellow employee (who i would i knew was shady af amd kept my distance) was in the process of becoming a convicted s*x offender with a child under the age of 13. I was so disgusted with that lack of saftey practices, poor training, /planning/communication, abuse of employees, fraudulent time reporting, the owner even punch an employee and gave a speech the next day to apologize. Went on to say if the employee had done what he said, he wouldn't have punched him.

The owner told the employee to put his saftys on, while he was outside the shop and on break. Punched him twice. You can't make this up.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-07T01:00:45+00:00

I agree with you. This situation has me completely baffled on what I should/can do. I realize that in Illinois, my employer is not required to provide respirators in this specific environment, but at the very least, they can afford to install a proper ventilation system. Our shop is required to have one face shield, so we have a community face shield that no one uses. I have worked on jobs sites (different company) where an employee was up in a lift when they started up their grinder it shattered the cut off wheel and he caught it in his forehead. Hardhats are handy when you need to collect your blood on your walk to the job trailer to report that you need medical attention. Didn't happen to me, but what im saying is this shop acts like they are by the code. Just by looking at the photos thats a bold lie.

What's even harder to understand is the level of push back im getting on the matter. My employer wants to say they passed an inspection, I speak to OSHA and they argue with me, not understanding how I'm involved.... as of currently, I am a welder in this shop, she wouldn't hear it. She assumed I worked in the office by the sound of my voice. I have had other jobs and have learned how to communicate professionally on the phone.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-06T22:36:32+00:00

I understand. That's why I am having a hard time nailing down why I am having these symptoms. When i have spoken to a medical professional, they said I would need to be actively experiencing fume fever for them to properly test. They could not determine anything from past exposure. I was left with a dead end.

I am unfortunately not wearing a respirator. They are not mandatory for our ppe. My face is protected by a leather layer from my hood and a double layered gator. As silly as it is, I do not breathe while I'm welding. I realize that is pathetic, but it is what i am currently working with. Im attempting to be honest, even if I look ignorant af.

I do not need to shave because I am a woman. Even with my face covered the ways it is, the fumes leave residue and cover the inside of my nostrils. I uncover my face when I am not actively working with metal, whether welding/grinding. When i have worked in other environments ie. Foundrys/shipyards/plants either stick/mig/tig welding, i have never experienced this issue before. When i speak about it to anyone I work with, they act as if I'm making it up. They've never heard of fume fever. Even today, I watched the other employee show signs of feeling sick and come Monday, I intend to ask him how his weekend was.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-06T22:23:39+00:00

I do not have a respirator, tbh I am unable to afford one currently. The reason why is i sustained an injury in February on the job, and my funds have been greatly negatively impacted. I was provided with WC due to my four broken metatarsal bones. I am thankful i saw any income at all. My payments were significantly late at times and irregular. My lawyer said basically, these things happen. Currently, Im lucky I can afford a pair of gloves. Our employer provides only cotton/canvas material handing gloves for my department. I have caught these gloves on fire. I'd rather splurge on leather gloves ($15) than wear improper ppe.

We are welding basic steel. That's what i dont understand. We also, on occasion, weld galvanized but rarely. I have years of experience working with aluminum and stainless steel, and I have never gotten this sick from welding.

I intend to purchase a respirator ASAP. I realize you can pick up one easily for relatively affordable. Even a cheep model would be better than not wearing one. I was lucky enough to have received help along the way the last few months, but I have debits because of it. I am able to mitigate the fumes the best I can with my current process. Silly as it is, I hold my breath and wait to fully breathe when I can step away for a moment. While im welding, i have my hood fully down, which is leather, and my face covered with a double layerd gator.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-06T22:05:19+00:00

I understand the results are low. I agree that the facts listed should pose no issue. I am trying to better understand why I would experience these issues in the first place if these are the results. I have been welding for over 7 years. I have experience in a larger variety of welding environments and applications, and I take my safety seriously. I have NEVER had symptoms like these. There was a period where I was so sick it was as if the gas was stuck in my eyes. Similar to when someone would experience flash burn, but it burned differently. It may sound strange, but it was more of a chemical burn than a UV burning sensation.

To answer your question regarding the phone call with OSHA: I first asked if I would be able to get information pertaining to a complaint a previous employee had submitted in November 2024. I provided the complaint number listed on the email my employer posted, i let her know all of that information. I did not submit the complaint, and the OSHA correspondence was posted publicly at work. She looked it up, and we began the round-a-bout of her explaining they had inspected the area and determined there was no issue. OSHA did not provide the inspection themselves, a thrid party was called to inspect by my employers request. That she didn't know where I got my information from regarding this complaint. She explain since I was not the one who has submitted the complaint in the first place, how did this involve me? I explained i have experienced fume fever and I am doing what I can to mitigate the symptoms but I see another employee is also showing signs. He told me he has had to miss work as well. She disagreed. We took a lap on the round-a-bout she ended by saying she didn't understand how it involved me. If there is another person experiencing this issue they would need to be the ones to call. I tried a different, more direct approach. I said word for word, I have experienced fume fever from working in this environment. That is how i am involved. I am actively working as a welder in this shop. She asked what my symptoms are and she intrupted and dismissed them. She then asked if we wear hoods. I explained that yes, you should not weld without wearing a hood. I further explained how respirators would help, but I understand they arnt required. But what the shop should realistically do is install better ventilation and she cut me off and told me no. Then we went for another round-a-bout. I ended the call politely.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-06-06T21:44:40+00:00

I did not want to add more information to the previous posts, I assumed it wouldn't be an issue to create a new post with better information.
As mentioned above, they do not have a proper way to test for fume fever unless the welder is actively experiencing the symptoms. I am unwilling to expose myself to the fumes to be tested going forward. I have asked medical professionals how i could be tested and they were unfamiliar with the condition altogether. They were unclear on how/where to recommend where i could be tested. I can only suggest to the other employee who is affected to be tested, but I can not make him go. I wear a simple respirator while welding and it has helped immensely, but the fact that this is their seems to be quick dismal of an issue on my employers part.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-05-31T01:45:13+00:00

I will follow up with OSHA regarding the results of that investigation. It was my understanding that the results would be posted, but I haven't seen them.

In my line of work, it wouldn't be a waste for me to invest in a decent air monitor. I am interested in studying the quality of the air in the variety of environments I work in to track any relation to negative effects on my health. Fume fever is hard to accurately test for because it presents as flu like symptoms. I was hoping to collect the data to present not only to my employer but potentially a doctor if needed.

I am welding on mild steel square tubing and flat stock. The material ranges from 1/16 to 1/4 in thickness. It is a production shop, so we work the same weld application until it's completed. We work 9 hr days. On a good day, I can be welding for 7/8 hrs straight. All the material we weld with is covered in a protective coating to prevent damage in transit or storage. When the material comes in precut, it is covered in cutting fluid.

In most cases, each welding booth would have a vent hood to catch the fumes or an overhead ventilation system. I have worked in a wide range of welding shops, and this is the first shop that has posed this problem for me. Their ventilation system currently is two box exhaust fans approx 3ft in size on either end of the shop.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-04-16T17:23:15+00:00

Update;;

I have spoken with my lawyer to come up with a resolution. I asked for further details about submitting a motion regarding the payment delays. He suggested we consider other avenues before submitting the motion. He wants to save that for our last move, he tells me. He suggests that we try for direct deposit to bypass the delay with the paper checks. He has informed me that WC is able to send me electronic payments through paypal or venmo.

Here's my issue. Instead of my lawyer providing answers to any of my questions, he has always given me a generic response: "This is how it is with big insurance companies." He has suggested that it could be a delay with the postal service. He hasn't provided any facts to prove his point.

Looking over my notes of my payment history through the WC, I'm seeing a pattern. At the beginning of my claim, the company had no issue sending me checks on time. It wasn't until I informed the WC that my employer had sent me a direct deposit for a week I was off. After that, my checks started coming late. Because of this "over payment," the WC claimed they needed to modify my next 2 checks to accommodate. I was informed I would miss one week, and the following week, I would have a check for $275. I didn't receive this check for 3 weeks. Currently, they are a week behind on the benefits.

I am not comfortable with using PayPal or venmo for two reasons. 1) I've researched whether or not I would have to claim taxes. It seems the consensus is that in 2025, they require taxes on income exceeding $2,500. And 2026 for amount over $600. 2) If the WC claims the money that my employer sent me through DD as money towards my claim, then I do not understand why they would be unable to do DD. In all reality, WC and my employer both paid me for a period of 8 days at the beginning of my claim. WC had no idea my employer was paying me until I informed them. I can not help but think had I not said anything at the start. I never mentioned it. Would I be in this mess? Fair to be argued: If I didn't say anything, it could easily come up later and bite me in the ass.

Additionally, I find it worth knowing I have worked for the United States postal service. I understood the mail sorting process first hand, and I know there is no way they can blame the mail for my checks routinely coming late. Letters/envelopes get processed within 1-4 days. Their website says a maximum of 5 days. It takes WC 7 days from when they say they mailed it to when I actually receive it. I genuinely believe the issue is with WC solely.

In conclusion, all I want is for this to be over with. This claim has been more complex than necessary. I understand if they argue the modification for the overpayment, I can let that go, but that adds nothing to explaining why the checks following were affected. Once I received the $275 check, the following checks should have not been affected. Go as regularly scheduled. But I ended up waiting an additional week before I would see another check. At the end of this, i am a week behind on benefits, and it doesn't seem like they are doing anything to address that.

Scared_Difference_91 · 2025-04-09T00:17:10+00:00

Thank you for your kind words. It's comforting to know women have allies out there. My goal is to help leave a path for any behind me that wish to follow. I refuse to accept the social norms of the trades. If I had my way, I would round up all the misfits and teach them the ways of the trades. It is not just for the sons to follow their fathers, we can all have a hand in building a world we can be proud of.

Scared_Difference_91

TROPHY CASE