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Tree Feller Killed by a Piece of Wood From a Falling Tree - Pennsylvania
Full text linkThe case of a tree feller killed when he was struck by a piece of wood from a falling tree was examined. The victim worked for a small logging company that did not have a written safety program but did provide safety information in the form of videos and on the job training. The victim was felling trees on a mountainside with a slope of approximately 10% when a limb from a large tree he had felled struck a smaller tree causing it to break in two places. A piece of wood from the smaller tree then catapulted toward the ground and struck the victim in the head. The victim died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head. It was recommended that employers ensure that tree fellers properly evaluate the area in which they are working to identify and avoid potential hazards, that employers provide, implement, and enforce written safety programs, that employers require that all employees be trained in first aid, and that a competent person be designated by employers to conduct regular safety inspections
Textile Worker (Machine Operator) Electrocuted After Contacting an Energized Conductor--South Carolina
Full text linkA 19-year-old machine operator (the victim) was electrocuted at a textile plant when he contacted an energized electrical conductor inside the 570-volt control panel of a sueder machine. Prior to the incident, the victim had been operating two sueder machines for approximately 9 to 10 hours. The 5- and 10-horsepower motors in the two machines had a regular tendency to overheat when heavy cloth was processed; heavier-weight material increased the tension on the machines' rollers, producing added friction and heat. Overheating of the motors would trip the overload relays and shut down the machines. The control panel covers on the two machines had previously been modified to increase heat dissipation; however, on the day preceding the incident, the cover had been removed altogether on machine #7, without authorization. On the day of the incident, the victim apparently attempted to cool the uncovered electrical equipment inside the control panel of machine #7 with a stream of compressed air from an air hose. The metal nozzle of the hose contacted an energized conductor inside the control panel. Current successively passed through the nozzle, the victim's hand, chest, and other hand to ground, through one of the other machines that the victim was touching. This caused his electrocution.Publication Date supplied by FACE program; date does not appear on report
Farmer crushed under a skid-steer loader bucket.
Full text linkIn the spring of 1997 an Iowa farmer was killed while using his skid steer loader to move rocks and remove bushes from a fenceline. He had attached a chain from the bucket to a shrub, and after partially pulling out the shrub, he apparently leaned forward out of the loader cage to remove or adjust the chain. It appears he slipped or inadvertently stepped on the right foot pedal, which immediately lowered the lift arms and the bucket, pinning him to the frame of the machine. Another possibility is that while pulling out the shrub, the chain slipped or the shrub gave way, causing the loader to buck up and down, throwing the man forward out of his seat. The machine had a seatbelt, but the man was not using it. He was working alone, out of sight from the farmstead; it was two hours before he was found dead at the scene by a family member. The skid-steer loader was still running when the man was found. The farmer's son, who had occasionally operated the machine, observed that it was having jerky movements during the few weeks prior to the injury, movements that could have been a factor in this fatality. A seat-actuated electro-hydraulic interlock had been by-passed long ago, therefore there was nothing to prevent the bucket from falling if the pedals were moved, even if the operator was not in the seat. The machine was manufactured in 1972. Recommendations based on our investigation are as follows: 1. Owners/operators of skid-steer loaders should not disable or alter factory-installed or retrofitted safety features. 2. Operators of skid-steer loaders should be educated regarding safe use of their machines. 3. Manufacturers should provide reliable mechanisms to prevent the loader bucket from falling unintentionally. 4. Machine operators must keep their equipment in proper working order, to ensure its dependability and safety.Publication Date provided by FACE program; not printed on the report.Cooperative Agreemen
Trash Collector Dies After Being Crushed by Collection Truck\u2013Virginia
No full textA 52-year-old male trash collector died after being crushed when a trash collection vehicle ran over him at the town landfill. He was employed by a small municipality. At the time of the accident the victim and two coworkers were dumping the afternoon's collections at the landfill. The driver turned and backed into the active working face. The victim and other trash collector prepared the truck's dump body for discharge. After the load was dumped, the driver pulled forward, clearing the working face. The victim and coworker checked the truck's dump body to note if the load was fully discharged and secured the turnbuckles. One trash collector entered the cab, while the victim rode on the riding step. After the driver had parked the truck, the victim was found lying in front of the truck. While the accident was not witnessed, apparently the truck backed over the victim. It was recommended that municipalities and employers develop and strictly enforce policies prohibiting trash collectors from riding on the rear of trash collection vehicles when not on the collection route
Restaurant Co-owner Fatally Crushed by a Dumbwaiter Car
Full text linkOn June 23, 2012, a 30 year-old co-owner of a Thai restaurant (victim) was fatally crushed by a dumbwaiter car in the basement kitchen of his restaurant. The dumbwaiter was a wire-rope type lift or elevator for transporting household goods between the first floor food preparation area and the basement kitchen. There was a hoistway opening on each floor: it was a rectangle opening with a vertical sliding door. The incident occurred at 1:19 AM on a Sunday. At the time of the incident, the victim and several restaurant staff were working in the basement kitchen. A cook prepared an appetizer and placed it in the dumbwaiter car to send it to the upstairs dining area. The cook stepped aside while the victim was standing next to the hoistway door. At this moment, the manager upstairs yelled down the shaft asking about the appetizer. The victim leaned into the dumbwaiter shaft and told the manager that the appetizer was ready. According to the manager, she then looked down and saw the appetizer but did not see the victim in the shaft. She then pressed the UP button to activate the dumbwaiter car. The dumbwaiter car started moving up and the victim's head was caught between the upper frame of the access opening and the bottom shelf of the dumbwaiter car. The cook quickly moved the car downward to release the victim. The workers helped the victim to the floor. A 911 call was placed by the staff upstairs. The EMT services arrived at the site within minutes following the call. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The immediate cause of death was massive cranial-cerebral trauma. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) specifies that all dumbwaiters have a hoistway door safety locking device. The locking device prevents the operation of the dumbwaiter unless all hoistway doors are in closed position. The dumbwaiter in this case did not have the locking device on the doors. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: 1. The dumbwaiter did not have the hoistway door safety locking device to prevent it from being operated when the doors were open. 2. The restaurant owners were not aware of the ASME requirement of the hoistway door safety locking device. 3. The elevator company that serviced the dumbwaiter was not aware of the ASME requirement of the hoistway door safety locking device. 4. Workers used the dumbwaiter shaft to communicate between the upstairs and the basement kitchen. 5. High noise levels in the kitchen at the time of the incident made it harder to hear the upstairs staff. 6. Workers were not trained on the safety hazards associated with operating the dumbwaiter and how to operate it safely.Date supplied by FACE Program. Publication date not indicated on resource.Cooperative Agreemen
Horse Farm Owner Dies When Pinned Under Golf Cart
Full text linkOn January 31, 2004, a 45-year-old female horse farm owner (decedent) died when she was pinned under a golf cart. The woman had driven a gas-powered golf cart from her house on the farm to the horse barn to muck stalls and put horses in the barn. After driving the golf cart into the barn, the farm owner placed two square bales of hay on the golf cart: one on the back and one on the passenger side of the front seat. Leaving the ignition key of the golf cart in the "on" position, she left the golf cart in the aisle at the end of the barn. She then walked the length of the barn, entered a stall, mucked it out, exited the stall into the barn aisle, and leaned the pitchfork against the wall next to the stall door. Unbeknownst to the farm owner, the bale of hay on the passenger seat had slipped off the seat and fallen onto the gas pedal of the golf cart. With the pedal depressed by the hay bale and the key in the "on" position, the golf cart proceeded down the barn aisle, striking the victim and pinning her underneath. Several hours later, the farm owner's daughter went to the barn and found her mother pinned underneath the golf cart. Upon finding her mother, she called a friend then went to the farm manager's house located nearby on the farm. The daughter informed the farm manager that her mother was in the barn pinned underneath the golf cart. The farm owner's daughter returned to the barn with the farm manager to find the daughter's friend and her friend's mother on the phone with emergency services. Emergency services arrived and contacted the coroner who arrived and declared the horse farm owner dead at the scene due to "compression asphyxia with hypothermia". To prevent future occurrences of similar incidents, the following recommendations have been made: 1. When exiting a golf cart, the operator should always turn the ignition switch to the "off" position and remove the key. 2. Golf cart seats should only be used for human occupancy. 3. A golf cart should be equipped with appropriate accessory equipment specific for the task.Cooperative Agreemen
A Construction Laborer Was Killed When a Rubber Tire Bulldozer Backed Over Him As He Was Doing a Grade Check
Full text linkA 40-year-old construction laborer was killed when he was backed over by a rubber tire bulldozer. The victim was doing a grade check on a housing foundation at the time of the incident. The victim gave instructions to the bulldozer operator to back up and away from the housing pad to make room for the scraper to drop a load of dirt. He then walked over to the end of the housing pad to give directions to the scraper operator and to re-set a couple of ground stakes to indicate the level of dirt. The bulldozer operator and victim lost sight of each other when the bulldozer completed a "U" turn while moving in reverse. The bulldozer backed over the victim as he was setting the ground stakes. The CA/FACE investigator determined that, in order to prevent future occurrences, employers, as part of their Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) should: 1. Ensure communication systems are adequate for the task being performed. 2. Ensure heavy equipment operators do not back their equipment when there are workers on foot in the area unless there is a spotter. 3. Consider using additional safety devices for heavy equipment to warn workers of a backing vehicle and to warn drivers when someone is in their blind spot. 4. Consider installing equipment on bulldozers that would incorporate the use of a laser, GPS, or sonic guided grading system.Publication Date provided by FACE program; not printed on the report.Cooperative Agreemen
Highway Paving Crew Member Dies After Being Run Over By a Rear End Dump Truck
Full text linkA 45-year-old member of a highway paving crew (victim) died as a result of being run over by a rear end dump truck that was backing up during truck repositioning maneuvers on a section of highway under construction. The victim was asked to instruct a line of seven truck drivers to back up to a new location. He proceeded to the rear truck (Truck 1) and gave instructions to do so. At the same time, another truck (Truck 2) was coming forward towards the line from the rear. While the victim signaled Truck 2 to stop, Truck 1's driver began turning and backing up to make way for Truck 2. The victim was in the path of Truck 1 and in the driver's blind spot. Although Truck 1's back-up alarm was functioning properly and despite attempts by Truck 2's driver to signal the danger to the victim, he was hit and pushed approximately 14 feet on blacktop. He died later that day in surgery from exsanguination. MN FACE investigators concluded that, in order to prevent similar occurrences, the following guidelines should be followed: 1. workers should direct only traffic moving in one direction at busy, noisy construction sites; 2. include information in employee safety training about human inaccuracy in estimating the arrival time of a moving vehicle; and 3. equip trucks used on construction sites with rearview sonar which alarms drivers of close proximity to objects behind them.Publication Date provided by FACE program; not printed on the report.Cooperative Agreemen
Truck Driver Killed when Struck by Log that Rolled off Truck During Loading Operation\u2013Alaska
No full textA truck driver was killed when the top log on one side of a trailer shifted and rolled off the trailer, striking him and fatally crushing his head and chest. The 49-year-old male truck driver was employed by a logging company. On the day of the accident, the driver began working with a log shovel/loader, performing their usual task of loading, and hauling logs. The shovel/loader had piled the logs so that they nearly reached the tops of the stakes at each corner of the trailer. The victim exited his truck cab, walked around the front of the truck to the trailers forward right side and began laying out the first of two binders. The load shifted, and then a log 40 feet long, 20 inches in diameter at the base, fell from the truck, striking the victim and killing him. It was recommended that log truck drivers and other workers stay clear of log loading operations until loads are stabilized, that employers ensure that all logging employees receive adequate training in safe work procedures, that employers conduct periodic inspections to ensure that workers follow company safety procedures, and that manufacturers and employers should consider manufacturing and/or retrofitting log trucks with retention stakes high enough to adequately secure anticipated log loads
Highway Construction Supervisor Dies After Being Backed Over By a Water Truck-South Carolina
No full textOn June 17, 2005, a male roadway construction supervisor died after being backed over by a water truck at a roadway construction site. The victim was part of a seven-man crew performing a milling operation on a 2,200-foot-long and eight-foot-wide blacktop berm of a recently paved section of a four-lane state highway. Due to a quality control problem, the blacktop berm had to be taken up and replaced. The milling machine had the capacity to remove a six-foot-wide section of the berm at a time. The crew had completed the six-foot-wide milling operation on the 2,200 foot section of the berm and had decided to mill the remaining two feet of berm before quitting for the day. A tractor equipped with a road sweeper was positioned behind the milling machine and the water truck was positioned beside the milling machine in the closed right side, westbound lane of the highway. The supervisor jumped onto the running board of the water truck and instructed the driver to return to the starting point of the milling operation and to apply water to the remaining two feet of the berm. The driver began to back the truck the 2,200 feet to the starting point. After dismounting the truck's running board, the supervisor walked around the tractor and into the path of the backing water truck. The two rear passenger-side truck axles backed over the supervisor before the tractor operator could alert the truck driver. A crew member called 911 from a company cell phone while other crew members moved the victim from underneath the truck. The victim was breathing and vital signs could be detected. The victim was transported to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead by the attending physician