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City Employee Killed when Clothing became Entangled around an Unguarded PTO Shaft on a Salt Truck
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2005/07/28
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Description:On January 26th, 2005 a 43-year-old male sanitation worker, employed by a city Department of Public Works (DPW), was killed when his sweatshirt became entangled around an unguarded Power Take Off (PTO) shaft on a salt truck. The truck had a broken bed chain (a conveyer belt used to transport salt to the rear of the truck) and had been in for service six days prior to the incident. The DPW mechanical crew repaired the bed chain and returned the truck to service but did not reinstall a shaft guard that covered the PTO shaft. At the time of the incident, the victim was alone operating the salt truck in the city's salt shed. There were no witnesses to the incident. It appeared that sometime between 3:50 p.m. and 4:10 p.m., when the victim walked to the rear of the truck to check the salt spreader, his orange safety sweatshirt was caught by the rotating shaft stub. At approximately 4:10 p.m., the victim was found by a co-worker. The salt spreader was still running and it appeared the victim had been strangled by the sweatshirt that had been tightened by the rotating shaft stub. The co-worker immediately turned off the machine and called two other workers for help. They freed the victim and placed a call to a DPW dispatcher. The fire department, police department, and ambulance service arrived within minutes. The victim was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. New York State Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (NY FACE) investigators concluded that to help prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future, employers should: 1. Require maintenance staff to inspect and certify each piece of equipment before releasing it back into service after maintenance or repair; 2. Require operators or other competent persons to perform daily safety checks on mobile equipment prior to operating the equipment; 3. Develop a standard salt truck operating procedure that requires operators to turn off the machine while cleaning and unclogging the bed chain and; 4. Establish a safety and health management system that is responsible for implementing a comprehensive occupational safety and health program.
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Content Notes:Publication Date provided by FACE program; not printed on the report.
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Pages in Document:1-7
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NIOSHTIC Number:20028607
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NTIS Accession Number:PB2006-100869
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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 05NY007, 2005 Jul; :1-6
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Federal Fiscal Year:2005
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Performing Organization:New York State Department of Health/Health Research Incorporated
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Peer Reviewed:False
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Start Date:2001/09/01
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End Date:2006/08/31
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Resource Number:FACE-05NY007
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