OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14451413
SAND,SUFFOCATED,FLOWING MATERIAL,BRIDGED MATERIAL,HOPPER
Event description
FELL INTO SAND HOPPER
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 WAS THE SAFETY DIRECTOR AND QUALITY CONTROL TECHNICIAN FOR A CEMENT HUTES INVOLVED, AND SAND WAS NOT FLOWING THROUGH ANY OF THEM. RAPPING ON THE CHU TES CAUSED A HOLLOW SOUND, WHICH IN TURN INDICATED THAT THE VOID WAS ABOVE THE C HUTES. AT SOME POINT DURING THE ATTEMPT TO DISLODGE THE SAND, GATE #1, WHICH WAS THE NORTHERNMOST OF THE GATES, BEGAN TO FLOW FREELY FOR A MOMENT AND THEN STOPP ED AGAIN. AT THIS POINT, AN EMPLOYEE IN THE TUNNEL WITH EMPLOYEE #2 INDICATED TH AT SOMEONE HAD APPARENTLY PUT A BOOT INTO THE CHUTE. EMPLOYEE #2 THEN INVESTIGAT ED AND FOUND A SECOND BOOT. HE REACHED ABOVE THE BOOT AND, UPON FEELING A HUMAN LEG, ATTEMPTED TO FIND A PULSE ON THE FEMORAL ARTERY, DIRECTLY BEHIND THE KNEE. FAILING TO FIND A PULSE, HE SUMMONED ALL THE HELP HE COULD FIND IN THE PLANT YAR D. THE ENTIRE YARD CREW (8 TO 11 EMPLOYEES) ATTEMPTED TO EXTRICATE THE BODY BY H PROCESSING PLANT. THE PROBLEM WHICH LED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE FAILURE OF SAND AND AND WITH SHOVELS. AT THIS POINT NO ONE KNEW WHO THE TRAPPED PERSON WAS. PRIO R TO THE ACCIDENT, EMPLOYEE #1 HAD BEEN SEEN BY SEVERAL EMPLOYEES IN THE PLANT Y ARD. EMPLOYEE #2 HAD SPOKEN TO EMPLOYEE #1 APPROXIMATELY 15 TO 20 MINUTES PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT, WHEN EMPLOYEE #1 HAD ASKED IF HE COULD HELP WITH THE PROBLEM. E MPLOYEE #2 INDICATED THAT HE KNEW OF NOTHING EMPLOYEE #1 COULD DO TO HELP. EMPLO YEE #2 STATED THAT, BECAUSE OF EMPLOYEE #1'S DUTIES, HE HAD COMPLETE ACCESS AT A NY TIME TO ANY PART OF THE FACILITY. NONE OF THE INTERVIEWED EMPLOYEES HAD SEEN HIM ON OR NEAR THE SAND PILE. NOR COULD THEY REASONABLY SPECULATE AS TO WHY HE W AS THERE. MOST OF THE EFFORT TO DISLODGE THE SAND WAS IN THE TUNNEL BELOW THE SA ND PILE. THERE WAS NO REASON FOR ANYONE TO BE ATOP THE SAND PILE. THE APPARENT R TO FLOW THROUGH 3 VERTICAL GATES, WHICH EMPTY SAND BY GRAVITY FLOW ONTO A CONVEY EASON FOR THE ACCIDENT WAS EMPLOYEE NEGLIGENCE IN PUTTING HIMSELF IN A HAZARDOUS POSITION ATOP THE SAND PILE. THIS ERROR IN JUDGEMENT LED TO HIS DEATH. OR BELT, FROM WHERE THE SAND IS TRANSPORTED TO THE MIXING PROCESSOR. THE SAND WA S APPARENTLY NOT FLOWING THROUGH THE GATES BECAUSE IT WAS WET. BECAUSE OF DAMPNE SS,THE SAND APPARENTLY HAD COMPACTED ABOVE THE GATES, CAUSING A VOID, OR 'CAVERN ', BETWEEN THE SAND PILE AND THE CHUTES LEADING TO THE GATES. EMPLOYEE #2 (THE G ENERAL MANAGER) AND OTHER EMPLOYEES WERE IN THE TUNNEL WHERE THE SAND GOES THROU GH THE CHUTES AND THE GATES AND ONTO THE CONVEYOR BELT. THERE WERE THREE GATES/C
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 24 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 31
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 12
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 8
- Task assigned
- 2
Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.