OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #763318
ASPHYXIATED,FRONT END LOADER,TORSO,HEAT EXHAUSTION,ASPHALT,HOPPER
Event description
ONE EMPLOYEE KILLED AND ONE INJURED IN STORAGE BIN BURIAL
Investigation abstract
On July 25, 1989, Employee #1 was one of four employees attempting to dislodge m y 9:15 a.m., after Employee #1 had been atop of pile for five minutes, the pile, which had evidently been hollowed out, collapsed with Employee #1 falling and b eing covered by tons of gravel. Employee #2, who had a previous history of heart problems, was assisting in the extrication of Employee #1. The temperature that morning was approximately 90 degrees Fahrenheit with high humidity. Employee #1 was freed 15 to 20 minutes after being covered, and was airlifted to a nearby t rauma center where he was declared dead upon arrival. Employee #2, affected by b oth the environmental and emotional stresses, began suffering symptoms consist w ith a heart attack, and was transported to an area hospital and hospitalized. aterial from a 30-ton gravel storage bin at an asphalt plant. Although an electr ic vibrator was mounted and functioning on the side of the hopper, employees had resorted to beating on the sides of the hopper with sledge hammers. The materia l in the bin was #10 limestone screenings, which is crushed gravel approximately one-quarter inch in diameter and with about 8 to10 percent moisture content due to recent rains. Not having much success, Employee #1 was lifted at the hopper by means of a front end loader bucket. Employee #1 stepped out onto the pile wit h a long metal rod which he used to try to break the pile loose. At approximatel
Victims (2)
-
#1 Fatality Age 24 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 2
- Source
- 27
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 18
- Environmental factor
- 8
- Hazardous substance
- 8880
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Hospitalized Age 50 M
- Nature of injury
- 15
- Part of body
- 31
- Event type
- 12
- Source
- 23
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 14
- Environmental factor
- 11
- Hazardous substance
- 8330
- Task assigned
- 2
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.