OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #759795
KNEE,AMPUTATED,WIRE ROPE,WORK RULES,CONSTRUCTION,CAUGHT BETWEEN,CRUSHED,LACERATION,INATTENTION,LEG
Event description
CONSTRUCTION WORKER LOSES LEG WHEN CAUGHT BY WIRE ROPE
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 WAS WORKING ON A BARGE WHICH WAS TRANSPORTING CONCRETE PILINGS FROM EMPLOYEE #1 NOTICED, AFTER HE HAD ATTACHED THE WIRE ROPE, THAT THE ROPE WAS LYI NG ON THE WRONG SIDE OF A DECK BIT AT THE CORNER OF THE BARGE. HE ATTEMPTED TO M OVE THE ROPE TO THE PROPER SIDE. THE ROPE TIGHTENED DUE TO THE TUG'S MOVEMENT, T RAPPING EMPLOYEE #1'S LEGS BETWEEN THE WIRE ROPE AND THE STATIONARY BIT. THE PRE SSURE OF THE ROPE AGAINST HIS LOWER LEGS RESULTED IN THE AMPUTATION OF HIS RIGHT LEG BELOW THE KNEE AND A SEVERE CRUSHING AND LACERATION INJURY TO HIS LEFT LEG. AN OLD BRIDGE (BEING DISMANTLED) TO SEA. THE PILINGS WERE TO BE DUMPED TO CREATE AN ARTIFICIAL REEF. WHEN THEY ARRIVED AT THE DUMP SITE THEY DISCOVERED THAT THE BARGE'S PIVOTAL TYPE CARRIAGE SYSTEM (USED TO DUMP THE LOAD) WAS WAS INOPERABLE AND THEY WOULD HAVE TO PULL THE PILINGS FROM THE BARGE, USING THE TUG BOAT WHIC H HAD TOWED THE BARGE TO THE SITE. A WIRE ROPE WAS USED TO ATTACH THE PILINGS TO THE TUG. THE TUG WOULD THEN PULL THE PILINGS OFF THE BARGE. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS WOR KING ON THE BARGE ATTACHING THE WIRE ROPE TO THE PILINGS. THIS PROCEDURE HAD BEE N SUCCESSFUL WITHOUT INCIDENT FOR THE FIRST EIGHT PILINGS. ON THE NINTH ATTEMPT,
Victim
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 49 M
- Nature of injury
- 1
- Part of body
- 16
- Event type
- 2
- Source
- 27
- Occupation code
- 599
- Human factor
- 10
- Environmental factor
- 1
- 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.