Construction Worker Fatally Struck by Steel Sheet Pile Falling from a Vibratory Pile Driver

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  New York State Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Program (NY FACE) ; New York (State). Department of Health. Bureau of Occupational Health and Injury Prevention
• Description:
  On May 29, 2015, at 12:04 p.m., a 50-year-old female employee of a construction company was struck and killed by a steel sheet pile that broke off from a vibratory pile driver at a bridge construction site. At the time of the incident, the decedent was directing traffic while a crew consisting of a foreman, a crane operator, an excavator operator, and an assistant iron worker were conducting a pile driving operation. A vibratory pile driver was used to install sheet piles at the existing bridge abutment. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS - Key contributing factors identified in this investigation include: 1) There was only one main hoist line holding the pile driver because the crane's auxiliary hoist was not assembled and rigged ; 2) The sheet pile was not rigged to the crane through a safety line ; 3) Workers were not trained on how to safely operate the vibratory pile driver. RECOMMENDATIONS - New York FACE investigators concluded that, to help prevent similar occurrences, employers should: 1) Ensure that piles are always secured to the crane via a safety line for as long as the piles are being held by the crane. 2) Ensure that all workers are protected from being struck by the load of a crane during pile driving. 3) Ensure that the hydraulic clamp bolts are inspected and evenly tightened to the appropriate torque as specified by the manufacturer.
• Subjects:
  • Accident Prevention
  • Accidents
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Construction Industry
  • Manufacturing and Industrial Facilities
  • Mortality
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • OSHA Region 2
  • Accident analysis
  • Accident prevention
  • Fatalities
  • Traumatic injuries
  • Construction industry
  • Falling objects
  • Cranes
  • Materials transport
  • Safety practices
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Construction ; Machine (All) ; Machine - Construction
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE15NY032
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-20
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067610
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 15NY032, 2022 Apr ; :1-20
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  New York State Department of Health/Health Research Incorporated
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  23 - Construction - (NAICS) ; 237310 - Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2005/07/01
• End Date:
  2026/06/30
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/164847/cdc_164847_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.81 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fa1a7dea5910df46e30a925874ddf2c870f47feccb5572c1aa995c72048e93e2cce16c064825f7f17a5149924f34c0c3970fdf3a3a769a66a4ea349a157b3049