Be careful, Don't let this happen to you

[vegasfoodguy]

y KIMBERLY DE LA CRUZ
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
A Sandy Valley man is dead after his RV fell on top of him, police say.

It was originally reported that the man was in critical condition and en route to a Las Vegas hospital, Metro Lt. Goodwin said Thursday. He was pronounced dead at the scene, however.

The man, who will be identified by the Clark County coroner’s office, was working on the 25-foot to 27-foot long vehicle when the accident occurred, Goodwin said.

Contact Kimberly De La Cruz at kdelacruz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @KimberlyinLV.

[Smitty77]

Thanks for the post sharing this, and very sorry for the gent... Safety does not happen by accident, it is something that must be practiced consistently - and become ingrained in the prep work for a job.

I'll add one tip that has helped me on our our 40' DP, in case someone else has the same situation. I park beside my garage, after going up over a curb. When I want to work on the engine, I use the mentioned lumber under the tires to get a bit higher. (4 stacked and bolted together 2x10's, with a angle cut to ease pulling up on. I place them under both drive wheels. With the outside tire ramp, being 4 1/2' long, so that the tag rides on it too.) I back the coach out so the aft end is hanging out in the street off of the curb, which gives me about another 6-7", in addition to the boards under the tires. Good access, and can easily use a crawler. I place poor man's safety cones out in the street, Home Depot orange buckets!. (We are on a corner, and this is the side street, which lucky for us, is about 12' wider then the normal streets in our housing area. So I really do not feel like I'm blocking the street any more then a parked car would have along the curb. And, I work with my legs parallel to the curb.

Safety happens by thinking, and making it a part of the job...

Best to all,
Smitty

[dodge_guy]

This was posted about a month or so ago. the RV rolled onto the guy working on it. either way always make sure the vehicle is chocked and stable before you do anything under it!

[robertbenita]

Jack Stands and wood blocks are good advice. And I hope I never need mine, but I own a set.

[ArchHoagland]

I use jack stands every time I change oil and transmission fluid.

One time I forgot to remove the jack stands and retracted my levelers.

Heard a big bang and the coach didn't go down.

So now I know my jack stands work...although now I attach a warning flag to the steering wheel so I remember to pull them. It's the same flag I attach when the TV antenna is up.

[Jagtech]

Heavy duty jack stands are good, but I like to have a back-up safety net in case they fail. For instance, if I have a wheel removed, I immediately slide it under a low frame component. Keeps the rig from coming all the way down.

[Pirate1]

10forty2 wrote:
For the life of me, I cannot understand why anyone would attempt to go under a vehicle that was jacked up without properly blocking the wheels and adding substantial jackstands or wooden blocks. As a child of the 70's, I remember reports of so many people getting crushed under vehicles because their bumper jack dropped the car when it rolled forward/backward. First thing I bought when I started driving was a pair of wheel ramps so I could change my own oil....I also made sure that the wheels were blocked and the parking brake was applied. Safety first!!

It's called loss of situational awareness. You are working on something, and the next thing you know, your head or body is where is shouldn't be or where you didn't plan to be and bammo....squish. Here is an example. On a class A I was working on to install air bags, I ended up with my head and most of my body on top of a wheel in the wheel well. I quickly realized that if something gives way, I am crushed. In another case, I was spraying fungicide on my roof. Stupidly, I was walking backwords down the roof. I got within a foot of the edge, two story, and realized, WTF am I doing? I almost walked backwards off my roof. In both cases, I was too focused on the job instead of the situation around me. I tend to be more careful now.

[Kayteg1]

mikensallyt wrote:
So sad. I'm sort of lazy though. I have always taken mine to a dealer and let them do it. Yes, its expensive but I'm not going to get hurt from it. Just me own thoughts.

I took my Ford Truck to dealer for wire harness recall and without my knowledge they performed "25 points safety inspection" what included leaving air filter clamp inside the intake pipe.
The dealer declined any responsibility for grinding my turbo.
I have old habit from times when ramps were not available and jacks have been cheap (or I did not have money for expensive ones).
I always put removed wheel under the car, so worse coming to worse I might get hurt, but the car will stop on the wheel before making me 4" thick.

[tommykelly]

How many people died or maimed from the old bumper jacks while doing the same thing..no stands or other support .terrible..I remember a few over my 69 years all the way back to my air force days.

[wa8yxm]

One of the things I love about my Intruder is that I can crawl around under it without jacks.. All wheels down, No jacks No problem.. though I do admit it's a bit chummy at 310 pounds (me).

Easier if I put about 4" of lumber under the tires.

[Doug156]

I bought truck ramps I use when going under the front end. They get the front end up high enough to work under, and have an added feeling of security.

[mikensallyt]

So sad. I'm sort of lazy though. I have always taken mine to a dealer and let them do it. Yes, its expensive but I'm not going to get hurt from it. Just me own thoughts.

[Bucky1320]

I'm thinking it wasn't jacked up.

[10forty2]

For the life of me, I cannot understand why anyone would attempt to go under a vehicle that was jacked up without properly blocking the wheels and adding substantial jackstands or wooden blocks. As a child of the 70's, I remember reports of so many people getting crushed under vehicles because their bumper jack dropped the car when it rolled forward/backward. First thing I bought when I started driving was a pair of wheel ramps so I could change my own oil....I also made sure that the wheels were blocked and the parking brake was applied. Safety first!!

[Executive45]

The news said he was a mechanic working on a 1973 Winnie. The coach rolled forward crushing him. They didn't say what caused the coach to move other than mechanical failure..Always block and chock.....Dennis