Foreman Falls into Running Auger after Stepping on Door Panel with Broken Door Interlocks

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Kentucky Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program (KY FACE) ; University of Kentucky. College of Public Health. Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center
• Description:
  On Saturday, May 17, 2014 at 9:00 am a 21- year- old foreman and two coworkers were assigned to clean a mixing plant and try to free the vein feeder that had become clogged with dried concrete. The last time the mixing plant had been used was the fall of 2013 and it had been stored for the winter in the lot next door without having been cleaned. After freeing the vein feeder, the foreman started the mixer section to remove the dried concrete. This created a cloud of dust, and the foreman instructed the two employees to leave the area to avoid breathing the dust. As the foreman started to leave the area, he stepped on one of the four doors covering the mixer section. Unknown to the foreman, the door had broken hinges and missing interlocks. Both the foreman and the defective door fell into the running auger mixer section. By the time one of the employees hit the emergency stop button to shut off the mixer, the foreman was chest high in the auger mixer and had died from his injuries. Emergency medical services (EMS) were contacted, and the victim was declared dead at the scene. To prevent future occurrences of similar incidents, the following recommendations have been made: Recommendation 1: Employers should develop and implement written procedures for maintaining the Rapidmix 400 C1 continuous mixing plant to include pre-inspection, cleaning the mixing plant inside and out immediately after each use, making prompt repairs to broken parts such as the broken door hinges, and promptly replacing missing and /or damaged parts such as interlocks for the doors covering the mixer section. Recommendation 2: Employers should train employees on hazard recognition for all aspects of the job involving such equipment as the Rapidmix 400 C continuous mixing plant including instructions not to walk on or stand on the doors covering the auger section of the mixing plant while the plant is in operation. Recommendation 3: Employers should provide documented refresher worker safety training annually or prior to the mixing plant's first use each year. Recommendation 4: Manufacturers should consider installing a switch so that the equipment doors could not be open during operation.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Engineering Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-prevention Control-technology Engineering-controls Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 4 Safety-education Safety-measures Safety-practices Safety-programs Training Traumatic-injuries Work-practices Workers

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Construction ; Machine (All) ; Machine - Construction ; Prevention through Design (PtD)
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE14KY022
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046110
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2015-104089
• 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 14KY022, 2015 Feb ; :1-10
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  University of Kentucky
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  23 - 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-512:8b6377e22875c7886e9c0d69b45283722f5f2c56e2cd62480105838c11a787c53813fa3da2b431d29a281e5e7505adcb475038ef444f2476b3db0b80a0e84f15
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/165054/cdc_165054_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.22 MB ]