OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #978718
ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS
SELLS STAR RT, AZ·
Event description
EMPLOYEE'S HEAD CRUSHED BETWEEN TELESCOPE DOME AND DOOR
Investigation abstract
AT ABOUT 7:45 PM ON APRIL 30, 1987, EMPLOYEE #1, AN ASTRONOMER, WAS USING THE MA ESE FIXTURES ARE ROTATED BY OR STOPPED IN FRONT OF AN ACCESS DOOR, THE DOOR WILL OPEN NO MORE THAN 3 INCHES. BOTH DOORS HAVE AN ELECTRICAL INTERLOCK SWITCH THAT STOPS MOVEMENT IF OPENED. DUE TO THE WEIGHT OF THE DOME, IT TAKES FROM 5 TO 6 S ECONDS AND TRAVELS A MINIMUM OF TEN FEET BEFORE STOPPING. MOVEMENT IS CONTROLLED BY THE TELESCOPE OPERATOR WHO ENTERS THE NECESSARY INFORMATION INTO A COMPUTER. THE COMPUTER MAKES THE NECESSARY ADJUSTMENTS AUTOMATICALLY. EMPLOYEE #1 & A GRA DUATE STUDENT LEFT THE CONTROL ROOM FOR THE CATWALK TO CHECK THE WEATHER. WITH T HE DOME TURNING, EMPLOYEE #1 OPENED THE WEST CATWALK DOOR AND ATTEMPTED TO STEP OUT. HIS HEAD, RIGHT ARM AND LEG HAD PARTIALLY PASSED THROUGH THE DOOR OPENING W HEN THE DOOR WAS STRUCK BY THE FIXED LADDER ON THE MOVING DOME. AS IT PASSED, TH YALL 4 METER TELESCOPE AT KITT PEAK NATIONAL OBSERVATORY. THE BUILDING HOUSING T E DOOR WAS PUSHED SHUT TO WITHIN 3 INCHES OF THE SILL. AS THE DOOR CLOSED, EMPLO YEE #1'S HEAD WAS COMPLETELY CRUSHED BETWEEN THE DOOR AND THE DOOR EDGE. THE GRA DUATE STUDENT AND THE OPERATOR ATTEMPTED RESCUE, BUT EMPLOYEE #1 WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD ON THE SCENE BY AIR RESCUE AT ABOUT 8:20 PM. HE TELESCOPE IS 105 FEET IN DIAMETER AND 18 STORIES HIGH. THE FIVE UPPER STORIES COMPRISE A DOME THAT HOUSES THE TELESCOPE. THE TELESCOPE CAN ROTATE 360 DEGREES AND WEIGHS 500 TONS. A CATWALK CIRCLES THE INTERIOR OF THE BUILDING AND IS FIXE D TO THE STATIONARY PORTION JUST BELOW THE ROTATING DOME. TWO ACCESS DOORS LEAD TO THE CATWALK. ONE IS ON THE WEST SIDE AND ONE IS ON THE SOUTH. A FIXED LADDER, PART OF THE LOWER DOME TRACK, AND A STOP REST ARE MOUNTED ON THE ROTATING DOME IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THEY EXTEND 1/3 OF THE WAY OVER THE DOOR OPENINGS. WHEN TH
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 36 M
- Nature of injury
- 12
- Part of body
- 13
- Event type
- 2
- Source
- 8
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 18
- Environmental factor
- 4
- 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.