Plant Manager Crushed to Death Under Fallen Pile of Steel Beams

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  New Jersey Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Project (NJ FACE) ; New Jersey. Department of Health. Public Health Services Branch. Division of Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health. Occupational Health Surveillance Unit
• Description:
  A 65-year-old male plant manager was killed after a pile of steel beams fell over and crushed him. The incident occurred in the yard of a steel beam processing and distribution warehouse facility in northern NJ. On the day of the incident, the victim was walking between an unsecured, stacked pile of steel beams and a flatbed trailer that was being loaded. As the victim walked between the pile and the trailer, the pile of beams toppled over, pinning him underneath. The victim suffered blunt impact injuries of the head and neck, and was pronounced dead on the scene by paramedics approximately twenty minutes later. Contributing Factors: 1. Unstable, unsecured stacking of beams. 2. Excessive amount of material stacked in yard instead of staging area. NJ FACE investigators recommend that these safety guidelines be followed to prevent similar incidents: 1. Steel beams should be properly stacked, blocked, interlocked and limited in height to ensure stability. 2. Beams should be moved and stacked by certified crane operator, and stacks should be routinely inspected for stability by a competent person. 3. A safety and health plan based on a job hazard analysis should be developed by the employer and followed where workers are assigned tasks.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Metal Workers Occupational Health Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Accident Analysis Accidents Injury Prevention OSHA Region 2 Safety Education Steel Industry Steelworkers Training Traumatic Injuries Work Practices
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Other
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE14NJ008
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  New Jersey ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20048550
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2016-104781
• 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 14NJ008, 2016 Feb ; :1-11
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  42 - Wholesale Trade - (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:dda395a938b3b434991bbdc815d740420c8ee20c8206f3c08096dd8e9f42059550d885232d7b457e6cb434c3477fe8b812a9a649de4f3830a13168251bf1f7d9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/165020/cdc_165020_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.22 MB ]