OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14520308

U.M.C. OF LOUISIANA, INC.

ST. GABRIEL, LA· 1986-12-08T00:00:00

Event: BARGE, SLIP, FALL, DROWN, LIFE JACKET, LOST BALANCE, WATER
NAICS: 000000
Inspection type: Accident-driven
Activity number: #101633071
Employer profile: U.M.C. OF LOUISIANA, INC.
Summary number: 14520308
Report ID: 625700

Event description

EMPLOYEE FELL INTO RIVER AND DROWNED

Investigation abstract

EMPLOYEE #1, A SALT HANDLER, HAD FINISHED UNLOADING ROCK SALT FROM A 50 FOOT BY 190 FOOT HOPPER BARGE. HE BEGAN THE JOB OF "DRAFTING" THE BARGE (MEASURING THE F REEBOARD FROM THE BARGE'S DECK TO SURFACE OF THE WATER). APPARENTLY, AS HE WAS W ALKING ON THE OUTBOARD DECK OF THE BARGE, HE SLIPPED AND FELL INTO THE WATERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. ALTHOUGH WEARING A WORKVEST, HE APPARENTLY WAS CAUGHT IN THE UNDERTOW AND SWEPT UNDER THE BARGE. THE BARGE WAS EMPTY, WITH ABOUT 18 INCH ES OF DRAFT. HIS BODY WAS RECOVERED THE NEXT DAY BY THE COAST GUARD, APPROXIMATE LY 75 MILES DOWNSTREAM FROM THE ACCIDENT SITE. THE WORKVEST WAS STILL ON HIM. TH ERE WERE NO EYEWITNESSES TO THE ACCIDENT.

Victim

#1 Fatality Age 29 M

Nature of injury
2

Part of body
4

Event type
4

Source
41

Occupation code
999

Human factor
1

Environmental factor
17

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.