OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #639922
HIGH WIND,WALL,CONSTRUCTION,CRUSHED,BRACE,STRUCK BY,BRACING,CONTUSION
Event description
MASONRY WALL FELL ONTO CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYEES
Investigation abstract
WINDY AND GUSTY CONDITIONS HAD RESULTED IN THE TWO OUTSIDE BRACES ON A 16 FEET H HE WALL. THE BRACING PLANKS SPLINTERED AND THE WALL COLLAPSED TOWARDS THE THREE MEN. TWO OF THE MEN, WHO WERE FACING THE WALL, ESCAPED AS THEY SAW THE WALL FALL ING. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS STANDING 10 FEET FROM THE WALL AND WAS FACING AWAY FROM IT. HE WAS STRUCK AND CRUSHED BY WALL. EMPLOYEE #2 SUSTAINED A CONTUSION OF THE HAN D DURING THE RESCUE ATTEMPT. THE THIRD LABORER WAS NOT INJURED. IGH, 40 FOOT LONG MASONRY WALL BEING BLOWN AWAY. THE WALL, WHICH WAS 8 INCHES TH ICK, HAD BEEN BUILT 3 WEEKS EARLIER. THE BRACING CONSISTED OF 2 BT 12 INCH ROUGH CUT PLANKING SPACED AT 20 FOOT INTERVALS ALONG THE OUTSIDE OF THE WALL. THE PLA NKS WERE NOT ANCHORED, ONLY BUTTED AGAINST A DIAGONAL PLANK WHICH WAS, IN TURN, WEDGED AGAINST A 2 BY 4 INCH, 2 FOOT HIGH STAKE DRIVEN INTO THE GROUND. BECAUSE THE BRACES HAD BEEN BLOWN DOWN, EMPLOYEE #1 ANTICIPATED THAT THE WALL COULD COLL APSE. EMPLOYEE #1,#2 AND A 3RD LABORER PROCEEDED TO REINSTALL THE BRACING. AFTER REPLACING BOTH BRACES, A STRONG GUST SLAMMED AGAINST THE THE INTERIOR SIDE OF T
Victims (2)
-
#1 Fatality Age 27 M
- Nature of injury
- 12
- Part of body
- 14
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 8
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 17
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 25 M
- Nature of injury
- 3
- Part of body
- 12
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 8
- 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.