A 39-year-old employee was killed on Friday, May 13, at a Home Depot store in East Palo Alto, according to police.
The man, whom the San Mateo County Coroner's Office identified as Ronald Mishra of East Palo Alto, was operating a forklift at about 5 a.m. when he was fatally struck by a pallet containing merchandise, police said. The store is located in the Ravenswood 101 Shopping Center at 1781 E. Bayshore Road
The state Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) is investigating the incident, said Erika Monterroza, assistant deputy director for communications. The investigation will take up to six months to complete and includes interviews with employees and witnesses and examining equipment and safety protocols for any deficiencies, she said.
Mishra was recognized by East Palo Alto Mayor Ruben Abrica, who offered his condolences to the family during the City Council's May 17 meeting.
Comments
Registered user
Mountain View
on May 24, 2022 at 5:55 pm
Registered user
on May 24, 2022 at 5:55 pm
The second I read the headline I thought --- bet it involved a fork lift tipping over or dropping pallets! When I was working my way thru undergrad school as a preventative maintenance grunt, we were taught "never get within 30 feet of a fork lift, especially if is dealing with a high load". In the Bay Area during the "bad old days" and I went to Home Depot and Costco, I was shocked to see that they were stacking and removing dangerously heavy pallets from very high shelves when the store was open and ignorant customers were in danger! Thankfully those days are gone, but being around moving forklifts still is very dangerous.