Three serious incidents in August highlight the dangers of unstable and falling palletized loads and the importance of proper design and handling.
In the span of just over a week, three separate accidents involving falling palletized loads resulted in severe injuries in Canada, the United States, and Spain. While details of each case are still emerging, the incidents draw attention to a persistent but often underappreciated safety risk in material handling: the stability of unit loads.
3 Falling Palletized Load Accidents Underscore Critical Need for Safe Unit Load Practices
Calgary: Two Critically Injured in 1,700-Pound Load Collapse
On August 17, Calgary police and fire crews responded to an incident at a Merlin Plastics yard where more than 1,700 pounds of palletized recycled materials collapsed onto two people. A woman, bloodied and disoriented, crawled into traffic to seek help, alerting first responders to a man trapped beneath the fallen load.
Both victims, who were not employees of the company and are suspected of being on the property without authorization, were transported to the hospital in critical condition. Police later reported the woman’s condition had stabilized, while the man remained critical. Investigators emphasized that the quick actions of a passing driver who called for help likely saved both lives.
Pennsylvania: Warehouse Worker Hospitalized
Just nine days later, on August 26, a worker at Gordon’s Food Service in Findlay Township, Pennsylvania, was hospitalized after being struck when pallets toppled inside the distribution warehouse. The worker’s condition has not yet been disclosed. Local police are investigating, and OSHA has been notified.
Canary Islands: Pallet of Kegs Falls in the Street
That same day, another serious incident occurred in San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Spain, where a pallet of beer kegs fell on a 40-year-old man in the middle of a busy avenue. Emergency medical services responded with advanced life support and fire crews to assist with recovery. The man suffered severe trauma to his leg and was transported in critical condition to Hospiten Roca Hospital.
Common Threads: Load Stability and Risk
Although the circumstances differ—a suspected break-in, a warehouse handling incident, and a street-side accident—the underlying hazard is the same: heavy palletized loads can cause devastating injury when they are unstable, improperly stacked, or mishandled.
Palletized loads are central to modern supply chains. Yet safe outcomes depend not just on pallets themselves but on the entire unit load system, including pallet, unit load packaging, stacking practices, securement, appropriate material handling equipment, and safe operation practices. When a load is unstable, the pallet becomes a potential weapon rather than a tool for efficiency.
As highlighted in Reusable Packaging News’ earlier coverage on safe stacking practices, load stability is not simply a matter of good housekeeping—it is a core element of occupational safety.
Key considerations include:
Proper load design: Aligning product packaging, pallet size, and stacking patterns to create interlocking stability, as well as stretch wrap, strapping, or corner boards to prevent shifting during movement.
Height and weight limits: Avoiding over-stacking and ensuring loads do not exceed safe weight thresholds for the pallet or handling equipment.
Operator training: Educating workers on how to recognize unstable loads, how to secure them, and when to stop unsafe practices.
Even seemingly minor deviations in stacking patterns or load restraints can have major consequences. The three accidents in August illustrate how quickly things can go wrong and how high the human cost can be.
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Rick LeBlanc, EMBA, is the founder and editor of Reusable Packaging News (subscribe to the free newsletter) and editor of Western Pallet Magazine. A supply chain journalist with more than 30 years of experience, he specializes in pallets, reusable packaging, material handling and related operations. Rick is co-author of Pallets: A North American Perspective and Pallets & Progress: A Collected History of Pallets and Palletized Handling 1922–1945. He is also an advisory board member of the Virginia Tech Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design. Read Rick’s full bio.
