105,313Records 71,083Employers 85,290Hospitalizations 27,770Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-10-31
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #997650

HEAD,BRAKE,WORK RULES,INDUSTRIAL TRUCK,CONSTRUCTION,STRUCK BY,FALLING OBJECT

Event
HEAD,BRAKE,WORK RULES,INDUSTRIAL TRUCK,CONSTRUCTION,STRUCK BY,FALLING OBJECT
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
997650
Report ID
551800

Event description

EMPLOYEE KILLED WHEN STRUCK IN HEAD BY FALLING BEAM

Investigation abstract

AT APPROXIMATELY 2:45 PM ON FEBRUARY 11, 1987, EMPLOYEE #1 WAS HELPING TWO OUTSI UNDER THE LOAD, THE FORK TRUCK STARTED TO ROLL BACKWARDS. THE FORKS CAME OUT FR OM UNDER THE BEAM WHEN THE BEAM BECAME JAMMED AGAINST THE INSIDE WALL. EMPLOYEE #1, WHO WAS DIRECTLY UNDER THE FALLING BEAM, WAS STRUCK ON THE HEAD AND KILLED I NSTANTLY. DE CONTRACTORS INSTALL A WOODEN BEAM FOR A NEW OVERHEAD DOOR. THE BEAM WAS 22 FE ET, 1 1/2 INCHES LONG AND WEIGHED ABOUT 440 POUNDS. EMPLOYEE #1 RAISED THE BEAM, USING A FORKLIFT, TO A HEIGHT OF 14 FEET. THE TWO CONTRACTORS WERE THEN SUPPOSE D TO SECURE THE BEAM INTO PLACE. ONE CONTRACTOR, ON A LADDER, HAD SECURED HIS SI DE AND CLIMBED DOWN TO GIVE THE SLEDGE HAMMER TO HIS CO-WORKER (ON A SCAFFOLD). EMPLOYEE #1, FEELING THAT THE SCAFFOLD WAS NOT CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE WORK FOR THE SECOND WORKER, GOT OFF THE FORK LIFT TO MOVE THE SCAFFOLD IN CLOSER. THE FORK TR UCK WAS PARKED ON AN INCLINE, WITH THE EMERGENCY BRAKE ON. AS EMPLOYEE #1 WALKED

Victims (2)

  1. #1 Fatality Age 68 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    1
    Source
    27
    Occupation code
    856
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    6
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #981 Degree 0 Age 0

    Nature of injury
    0
    Part of body
    0
    Event type
    0
    Source
    0
    Occupation code
    0
    Human factor
    0
    Environmental factor
    0
    Task assigned
    0

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.