OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #825083

UNSECURED,WORK RULES,CONSTRUCTION,OFF LOADING,STRUCK BY,FALLING OBJECT,UNSTABLE LOAD

1988-08-16T00:00:00

Event: UNSECURED,WORK RULES,CONSTRUCTION,OFF LOADING,STRUCK BY,FALLING OBJECT,UNSTABLE LOAD
Linked inspection: No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number: 825083
Report ID: 352420

Event description

Employee killed when struck by falling railroad ties

Investigation abstract

At 3:30 p.m. on August 16, 1988, Employee #1, a construction supervisor, request side of the trailer removing the chains and binders from the load. At approximat ely 3:45 p.m., Employee #1 came out of the office trailer and approached the loa d from the left side, not saying anything to anyone. When he cut the wire band o n a bundle of ties, approximately five railroad ties fell on him, covering one h alf of his body. Employee #1 was transported to the Washington County Hospital, where he died on September 6, 1988. The railroad ties were being handled inappro priately. The forklift truck should have been placed against the bundle of ties before the wire was cut. No evidence indicated that Employee #1 had received any formal or informal training. The only witness to the accident was the operator for Callas Contractors, Inc. ed that Callas Contractors, Inc., send a forklift truck to a job site to unload some railroad ties. The 200 ties had been loaded on a flatbed trailer measuring 8 ft by 40 ft. They were 7 in. by 9 in. by 8 1/2 ft; weighed approximately 250 l b each; and were stacked in bundles of 25, two bundles wide and four long. Each bundle had one heavy wire band around it to hold the ties together. They were al so secured with chains and load binders for shipment. The forklift operator arri ved at the site at 3:40 p.m. and positioned the forklift truck at an angle facin g the left rear corner of the loaded trailer. The truck driver was on the right

Victim

#1 Fatality Age 68 M

Nature of injury
12

Part of body
19

Event type
1

Source
43

Occupation code
558

Human factor
11

Environmental factor
6

Task assigned
2

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