Construction Laborer Died When Struck by an Excavator Bucket that Detached from a Quick Coupler — California

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cierpich, Hank
• Corporate Authors:
  California Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program (CA/FACE) ; California. Department of Public Health. Occupational Health Branch
• Description:
  On August 3, 2021, a 54-year-old Hispanic construction laborer was struck by an excavator bucket that detached from a quick coupler that was attached to the boom. The crew was installing an underground storm drainage system on a residential street. The victim was in the trench when the excavator operator swung the boom over the trench to continue digging. The bucket detached from the quick coupler and struck the victim below, killing him. The California Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (CA/FACE) program investigator determined that, in order to prevent similar incidents, construction companies that operate excavators should: 1) Establish procedures that will ensure workers are not working within the excavator boom swing radius or beneath an elevated load. 2) Ensure that operators maintain and inspect quick couplers to prevent malfunctions that may cause an unintended release of the excavator's bucket.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Construction Industry Mortality Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident Analysis Construction Workers Equipment Operation Excavation Equipment Fatalities Injury Prevention Machine Safety OSHA Region 9 Recommendations Traumatic Injuries
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Construction ; Hispanic - Construction ; Machine (All) ; Machine - Construction
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE21CA004
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-10
• Contributor:
  Harrison, Robert ; Styles, Laura ; Shor, Glenn
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067304
• 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 21CA004, 2022 Jan ; :1-10
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  California Department of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  54 - Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services - (NAICS) ; 541330 - Engineering Services - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2005/07/01
• End Date:
  2026/06/30
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a3aff148299044682a746ba73d03a4e6f2ea5bcbac58e3c728023e4dfe9595d11ea1421f4fe54ddb7c74e2eba0898a9a3915e839bdf1bd245ca9fd8dcb28aa54
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/164851/cdc_164851_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.14 MB ]