ILA Checker Parked In Pickup Truck Killed By Toppled Container Stack [Philadelphia, PA – 10 July 2017]

Posted by admin on Jul 13, 2017 in Bulletins

In the first fatal accident occurring at ILA operations in 2017, Patrick Kelly, a 52 year-old checker and member of ILA Local Union 1242, was crushed to death when a container stack tumbled after being struck by the spreader of a top loader engaged in making a turn at the corner of a block of 45′ MT containers.

The accident occurred in the very early afternoon; on a hot, humid day at an (unimproved) 40 acre container yard (known as the Publicker Property), adjacent to the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in Philadelphia.

Currently, there exists a large amount of conjecture as to cause…. Some reason that Mr. Kelly was likely parked in the shade (on a blisteringly hot day) provided by the stack. Others are of the mind that the top loader operator was traveling with his machine’s spreader in a fully extended position unnecessarily. The co-chairmen of the ILA-USMX Joint Safety Committee were immediately dispatched to Philadelphia, and their investigation is ongoing. OSHA, too, has begun its own investigation.

In the meantime, we can offer links to (relatively accurate) news accounts that were publicly available the day of the accident.

Link to Media Account:  Falling cargo container kills man at Packer Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia (071017)

Link to Media Account   Shipping Container Crushes Worker at South Philly Port (071017)