Other fall to lower level 6 to 30 feet · Closed trauma involving internal organs, major blood vessels
Final narrative
On May 21, 2024, temporary concrete barriers along a bridge edge were being moved two feet back using a front-end loader with forks. The forks became entangled in some rebar, so the barrier being lifted was set back down. The injured employee went to investigate, lost his footing, and fell backward off the edge of the bridge deck 24 feet to the lower boom of the mobile elevated work platform (MEWP). He then fell from the MEWP another 5 feet onto soft mud ground. He sustained a head laceration, punctured lungs, and fractures to his pelvis and leg.
An employee was operating a battery-powered broom to clean demolition debris off the top of the outermost bridge girder. The girder was approximately 11 feet above the demolition scaffold below. The employee fell approximately 8 feet to wind bracing below. The employee was hospitalized with a pelvis/tailbone fracture. Fall protection was in place at the time.
An employee was standing on the surface of a steel beam about two feet wide. He slipped and fell backward, landing on the concrete ground about 20 feet below. The employee sustained a broken pelvis.
An employee was cleaning out an inlet pipe in a stormwater structure. The employee stepped back, fell into the pipe, and landed on concrete 13 feet below, at the bottom of the structure. He suffered a broken back.
An employee was working on a platform, raised 6 to 8 feet in the air, to get something off a rack. The employee fell from the platform to the ground and sustained a head injury and injury to multiple body parts.
An employee was preparing to unjam an auger shaft while standing on a forklift-elevated, job-made platform. The employee's wrench slipped off the equipment, causing them to lose their balance and fall. The employee landed on the ground 14 feet below and suffered fractures to the orbital bone, left elbow, and lower back.