Crane operator killed by falling steel beam

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Oregon Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Program) (OR-FACE) ; Oregon Health & Science University. Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences
• Description:
  A 40-year old crane operator was killed when a 35-foot (5600 lb) H-beam fell crushing the crane cab and striking him in the head. During a pile driving operation, the H-beam pile had been placed in a drilled 25-foot hole. While using a vibratory hammer to force the pile further into the hole, the pile shifted. After several failed attempts to correctly position the pile it was extracted using the hydraulic clamp of the vibratory hammer and moved 12 feet from the hole. It was held in a vertical position with the bottom of the pile resting on the ground. The clamp holding the top of the pile unexpectedly released. The pile was not rigged to the clamp housing or attached to the whipline. The 5600 lb pile fell, struck and crushed the crane cab, and killed the operator. Recommendations: 1. Employers should ensure that pile driving operations include redundant measures (e.g., two switch safety feature, restraints) to prevent release of piles from lifting and pile driving equipment. 2. Employers should consult the equipment manufacturer prior to modification or addition to equipment. The wireless remote control that replaced the original pendant control may have unexpectedly opened the clamp and released the pile. 3. Employers should ensure that workers are trained on the hazards of equipment and follow manufacturer's operating manual (e.g., bleeding entrained air from the line to prevent clamp failure). 4. Employers should ensure that a risk assessment is conducted whenever a change-in-plan occurs and workers should be encouraged and reinforced for reporting unsafe conditions and participating in implementation of hazard controls. 5. Incident investigations should include a root cause analysis to identify hazards, recommended actions to control these hazards and follow-up procedures to ensure that these actions are implemented.
• Subjects:
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Construction Industry
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • OSHA Region 10
  • Accident analysis
  • Accidents
  • Injuries
  • Injury prevention
  • Traumatic injuries
  • Machine safety
  • Equipment operators
  • Construction industry
  • Cranes
  More +
• 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/NIOSHSFACE15OR002
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20048207
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2016-104162
• 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 15OR002, 2016 Jan ; :1-10
• Email:
  orface@ohsu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  Oregon Health & Science University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  23 - Construction - (NAICS) ; 237990 - Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2005/07/01
• End Date:
  2026/06/30
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/165025/cdc_165025_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 5.19 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8ce8f187de878acbb187d3d83e676c17474a052155b0c5a0295168adee77ce83d4f88c6852793b4d6983cdbe83770b715e79062595dbf08a84b080a5dbc6d6d6