Municipal Foreman Killed When Struck by a Backhoe Loader Outrigger While in an Excavation - Massachusetts

Details

• Personal Author:
  Davis, Letitia ; Fiore, Michael A.
• Corporate Authors:
  Massachusetts Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Project (Massachusetts FACE) ; Massachusetts. Department of Public Health
• Description:
  On February 4, 2014, a 48-year-old male general foreman (victim) employed by a local municipal water department was fatally injured while repairing a water line break. The victim was inside an excavated hole located in a roadway with three other co-workers. A backhoe loader was positioned near the trench with its outriggers extended and bucket attachment resting inside the dump section of a dump truck. The backhoe loader was unintentionally pulled forward when the dump truck was driven forward. As the backhoe loader was pulled forward, the outrigger on the right side struck the victim and dragged him out of the excavated hole. A police officer performing a traffic detail was on site and placed a call for emergency medical services (EMS). EMS, the fire department and the local and state police arrived at the incident location within minutes. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Contributing factors identified in this investigation included resting the backhoe bucket attachment in the dump truck when not being used, lack of communication among workers, not closing the roadway during the repair resulting in a limited work area, and absence of a safety and health program. The Massachusetts FACE Program concluded that to prevent similar occurrences in the future, employers should: 1. Ensure that when excavating equipment is not being used that the equipment is moved away from the excavation edge and all attachments are lowered to the ground before workers enter the excavation
  
  2. Ensure that before moving equipment located on work sites that the operator performs a walk around to warn workers on foot that the equipment will be moved and to identify potential obstacles
  
  3. Consider closing roadways when the work area is located in a roadway and there is limited space for the work area, and multiple large pieces of equipment are needed to complete tasks
  
  4. Develop, implement, and enforce a safety and health program that addresses hazard recognition and control and avoidance of unsafe conditions
  
  and 5. Provide work environments for employees that, at a minimum, meet all relevant Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations and industry accepted standards of practice per the Department of Labor Standards policy.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Automobiles Construction Industry Occupational Health Safety Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident Analysis Accident Potential Accident Prevention Construction Equipment Construction Workers Injuries Injury Prevention Motor Vehicles OSHA Region 1 Training Traumatic Injuries Work Environment Worker Safety Work Zone

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Trenching
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE14MA003
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20048939
• 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 14MA003, 2016 Mar ; :1-11
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  Massachusetts State Department of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  237110 - Water and Sewer Line and Related Structures Construction - (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:f6e867235d78f878a7cb40b07899808ca45b659fd497e41f72a46bad55ef6cc6fc8296c1b797da35ab389c375f0d4de5e6e5c68658d36c2944b2ccf0ecc93099
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/165015/cdc_165015_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 902.12 KB ]