OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14539126
CHEST,FRACTURE,HEAD,WIRE ROPE,SKULL,ELEC UTILITY WORK,STRUCK BY,TOWER,TRANSMISSION TOWER
Event description
STRUCK BY A STEEL CABLE DURING WORK ON A TRANSMISSION TOWER
Investigation abstract
ON SEPTEMBER 12, 1984, AT ABOUT 9:45 AM, EMPLOYEE #1 WAS STANDING ON THE EAST AR AY (8 TO 10 MINUTES HAD PASSED). AT THIS TIME, THE STEEL CABLE STARTED SLIPPING THROUGH THE KLEIN GRIP ON THE DOZER BLADE. IT CAME OUT OF THE GRIP BEFORE EMPLOY EE #1 COULD MOVE, AND THE CABLE STRUCK EMPLOYEE #1. HE DIED INSTANTLY FROM THE I NJURIES HE RECIEVED. THE KLEIN GRIP, DESIGNED FOR USE WITH 9/16-INCH WIRE ROPE, WAS IN PROPER WORKING ORDER. EMPLOYEE HAD ON A SAFETY BELT AND LIFELINE. M OF AN ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION TOWER (ABOUT 80 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND). A GROUNDMA N WAS ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE TOWER, AND AN OPERATOR WAS ON A CATERPILLAR DOZER ABOUT 40 FEET FROM THE TOWER. THEY HAD A 9/16-INCH STEEL CABLE THROUGH A KLEIN G RIP AT THE TOWER, THROUGH A SHEAVE OF A BLOCK, AND THROUGH A KLIEN GRIP, WHICH W AS ATTACHED TO THE DOZER BLADE BY A 1/2-INCH CABLE SLING AND 3/4-INCH SHACKLE. T HE OPERATOR OF THE DOZER HAD BACKED IT UP TO PUT TENSION ON THE STEEL CABLE SO T HAT EMPLOYEE #1 COULD RELEASE THE GRIP AT THE TOWER. EMPLOYEE #1 HAD RELEASED TH E GRIP AND WAS STANDING UP AND MOVING TO GET HIS HARDWARE AND SLING OUT OF THE W
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 39 M
- Nature of injury
- 12
- Part of body
- 13
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 27
- Occupation code
- 577
- Human factor
- 6
- Environmental factor
- 5
- 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.