Cleveland Plant Officials Cleared Of Violations In Fatal Accident

BY JOHN PATTERSON
SALISBURY POST

State inspectors have cleared Freightliner of any wrongdoing in the accidental death of an employee in September, according to a letter sent to the company last week.

A safety compliance officer from the state's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA), who inspected parts of the Cleveland truck manufacturer's plant in the weeks following the death of 32-year-old Brian Snow, said in the brief letter that he "identified no apparent violations of North Carolina OSHA standards or regulations."

Snow, who lived at 1170 Majolica Road, Lot 42, died Sept. 24 after being run over by a truck in one of the company's parking lots, located behind the plant. Details about the accident were limited at the time, but a summary provided by the N.C. Department of Labor stated Snow was run over because the driver of the truck couldn't see him.

Snow and another employee, who was not identified, were apparently walking from the parking lot toward the building where they worked. While walking toward the building, the "two employees took the most direct route (human nature) and traveled in front of a parked, but running, COE (cab over engine)."

The truck driver, who was waiting for traffic to clear, never saw the two employees. The driver, also unidentified in the report, said he looked both ways - though he can't see anyone within approximately 8 feet of the truck - and "proceeded to make his left turn and subsequently ran over the employee (Snow)."

According to the report, Snow was "struck by the first tandem, which was felt by the COE operator, then pulled between the rear tandems, thrown back in front of the front tandem and consequently struck again."

Snow died a little more than an hour after the accident, after a helicopter flew him to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem.

One of the two employees said after the accident that "I did not look at the driver before I began to cross in front of the stationary COE." However, it isn't clear from the report which employee made that statement.

Snow, who was married with one daughter, came to North Carolina from Indiana while in his teens and attended East Rowan High School. He was the first Freightliner employee to die in an accident at the Cleveland plant, according to company officials.