Temporary mill worker dies in fall from tower catwalk

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Oregon Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Program) (OR-FACE) ; Oregon Health & Science University. Oregon Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology (CROET)
• Description:
  On June 23, 2005, a 43-year-old temporary worker at a lumber planing mill, operating a tower conveyor, fell 17 ft off a catwalk in the tower, and died 2 days later. While operating the planer, the temporary worker observed broken pieces of 2x4s beginning to jam up the flow of lumber. Following standard procedure, he stopped the conveyor and stepped onto one of the catwalks that traverse the interior of the metal-beam structure in order to reach the jam. He picked up a broken 2x4 and stepped backward on the catwalk to the platform
  
  then walked out on the catwalk a second time to retrieve another long 2x4, and backed out, dragging the board. At the end of the catwalk, he missed his footing and fell to the concrete floor below, striking his head on another machine in his fall. Emergency responders arrived within a few minutes and transported the victim to the local hospital, where he underwent immediate surgery. He later died in the hospital. Cause of Death: Blunt head and chest injuries. Recommendations: 1. Guardrails must be installed on regularly used access walkways that are 4 ft or more above the ground. If guardrails are not feasible, alternative fall protection must be employed. 2. Training in safe work procedures should be provided to all workers, including temporary workers. 3. Employers should conduct hazard surveys and follow through with corrective action.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Engineering Forestry Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Control-technology Engineering-controls Equipment-design Injuries Injury-prevention Lumber-industry Lumber-industry-workers OSHA Region 10 Protective-equipment Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Sawmill-workers Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-operations Work-practices

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Falls ; Temporary Worker
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE05OR018
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• 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:
  1-5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20031172
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2007-102047
• 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 05OR018, 2006 Oct ; :1-5
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Performing Organization:
  Oregon Department of Human Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  31-33 - Manufacturing - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2002/09/01
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:35c17a275bd8aa33b3b1e9ba37ec520a18e122c5a8477067b490daf8a049590a6ceafd9292345da366e7f8179b794ae01b98f451f63fa7259906dc21a7493bda
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166298/cdc_166298_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 157.82 KB ]