Maintenance Mechanic Dies after Spreader Beam Falls and Crushes Him in California

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  California Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program (CA/FACE) ; California. Department of Health Services
• Description:
  A 41-year-old male maintenance mechanic (the victim) died after a 2,180-pound spreader beam fell on him at work. The victim and two of his co-workers had planned to use the spreader beam in conjunction with a crane to lift a front-end loader so that the brakes could be replaced. The victim had informed his co-worker that he was going to walk over to the area of the facility where the spreader beam was located. The spreader beam was stored in a narrow alleyway, leaning unsecured against a wall. After approximately 15 minutes, a foreman went to find the victim and discovered him under the spreader beam with his back pinned against a shed. The foreman checked the victim for pulse and spontaneous respirations, could not detect either, and ran to call emergency services. There were no witnesses to the incident. The victim's co-workers stated that they thought the victim may have been trying to attach a shackle to the beam when the incident occurred. The victim had one shackle in his toolbox, and one was found on the ground near where the victim was located. Co-workers stated that the victim always carried two shackles in his toolbox. Paramedics arrived in approximately five minutes and could not detect spontaneous respirations or a pulse. The CA/FACE investigator concluded that in order to prevent similar future occurrences employers should: 1. require that heavy equipment be secured to minimize the risk of injury. 2. evaluate their work practices and ensure that safe methods are used. 3. develop, implement, and enforce a comprehensive safety program which includes, but is not limited to, training employees in hazards recognition and avoidance, and safe work practices, including task-specific procedures.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Maintenance Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Injuries Injury-prevention Maintenance-workers OSHA Region 9 Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices

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• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE96CA004
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20027086
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2007-112029
• 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 96CA004, 1996 Oct ; :1-5
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1997
• Performing Organization:
  California Department of Health Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  21 - Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1991/09/30
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:919d126b56bafe4f30930ee4bd936d68b88b3e7dd70fb97b3bd2732e1bd4711ac1647f3f94eadec75806491584743b9982969ba670ab466da694539ee9331439
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/169009/cdc_169009_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 28.29 KB ]