OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14465629
U.S. CONTRACTORS, INC.
FREEEPORT, TX·
Event description
Employee killed when struck by falling pipe
Investigation abstract
At approximately 10:30 a.m. on or about April 27, 1989, a crew of men were weldi #1 was not needed but stayed o watch the work. The operator of the crawler back hoe had begun to reposition his tractor to continue to dig. The tractor was faci ng toward the pipe with its boom extended. The operator was trying to align the tracks of the backhoe with the imprint left in the dirt when the bucket struck t he pipe, causing the east end of the pipe to bend and swing off of the stand. It struck Employee #1 and pinned him to the ground. He was killed. ng and excavating to lay three approximately 110 ft long 8 ft carbon steel pipes . The excavation was approximately 6 ft deep by 20 ft wide by 40 ft long; the bo ttom of the trench was 10 ft by 30 ft with a 45 degree slope. The one pipe on si te was resting on three or four tripod-type jack stands approximately 3 1/2 ft h igh and Nutal sawhorses 2 to 3 1/2 ft high. The pipe and stands were on top of a pproximately 8 ft wide by 16 ft long by 6 to 8 in. thick sacking mats. Employee #1 had been working in another area and went to the excavation to see if the cre w needed assistance since he had earlier helped prepare the excavation. Employee
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 59 Male
- Nature of injury
- Other (21)
- Part of body
- ABDOMEN (1)
- Accident type
- STRUCK BY (1)
- Source of injury
- OTHER (43)
- Occupation
- Occupation not reported (999)
- Human factor
- MISJUDGMENT, HAZ. SITUATION (1)
- Environmental factor
- MATERIALS HANDLG EQUIP./METHOD (8)
- Task assigned
- Task regularly assigned (1)
Labels are OSHA's own, from the code dictionary published with the accident-investigation file. The raw code is shown beside each one so this page can be reconciled against OSHA's bulk data. OSHA notes that nature of injury, part of body, source of injury and accident type in this file are not coded to the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System, and that the occupation titles are not standardised — so these values are not directly comparable with the OIICS-coded severe injury reports.