OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14516512
HEAD,HEMORRHAGE,CONSTRUCTION,CRUSHED,BACKHOE,BACKHOE BUCKET,INATTENTION
Event description
CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYEE DIED WHEN HEAD CRUSHED BY BACKHOE
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 WAS THE TOP MAN OF A CREW INSTALLING 18 INCH PVC SANITARY SEWER PIPE OVER THE SIDE OF THE TRENCH BOX. IN DOING SO, HE PLACED HIS HEAD BETWEEN THE BU CKET AND THE TOP EDGE OF THE TRENCH BOX. THE BUCKET CRUSHED HIS HEAD AGAINST THE SIDE OF THE TRENCH BOX. HE DIED OF A MASSIVE BRAIN HEMORRHAGE. IN A TRENCH. A TRENCH BOX AND A 1978 CATERPILLAR BACKHOE, MODEL 235, WERE BEING USED. EMPLOYEE #1 GUIDED THE PIPE, WHICH WAS ATTACHED BY A CHOKER TO THE BACKHO E BUCKET, OVER TO THE TRENCH BOX, THEN TURNED CONTROL OF THE LIFT OVER TO THE BO TTOM MAN (INSIDE THE TRENCH BOX). EMPLOYEE #1 STOOD CLEAR OF THE BOX. THE BOTTOM MAN MOTIONED THE BACKHOE OPERATOR TO LOWER THE PIPE AND MOVE IT TO THE BACK OF THE BOX WHERE THE LAST PIECE OF PIPE HAD BEEN SET. DURING THIS MANEUVER THE PIPE SLIPPED FROM THE CHOKER AND FELL TOWARD THE BOTTOM MAN, STRIKING HIM IN THE LEG . THE COMMOTION CAUSED BY THE FALLING PIPE APPARENTLY CAUSED EMPLOYEE #1 TO LOOK
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 27 M
- Nature of injury
- 12
- Part of body
- 13
- Event type
- 2
- Source
- 27
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 4
- Hazardous substance
- 8880
- Task assigned
- 1
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.