Load of lumber shifts and falls on construction worker killing him

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:
  A 32-year-old construction worker was killed when a load of lumber being lifted to the second story of a residence under construction, shifted and fell on him. Law enforcement officers investigating the scene reported that another worker was on the second floor helping to guide the load into position and acting as a safety spotter. The equipment that was being used to lift the load was a rough terrain forklift. The load being lifted was extended beyond the ability of the rough terrain type forklift to counterbalance and it upended. The load shifted and the falling bundle of lumber struck the victim, who was attempting to climb through a stairwell hole to access the second floor at the same time. The victim was killed instantly. Neither the loader operator nor the victim was aware of the others position or activity. Recommendations: 1. Never work under a load being lifted into position. No one should be allowed within the swing of a crane or lift, unless they are expected to be there e.g., spotters, guides etc. No one should ever be allowed to be directly under the load at any time. 2. Stay within the safe working parameters of the crane or lift and do not exceed the recommended load or reach specifications. Ensure that all mobile equipment operators are trained or certified in the operation of the equipment prior to use. 3. Designate a person to act as a spotter and communicate with others on site and the equipment operator. There should be a communication system worked out between all workers, i.e., hand signals, whistles, walkie-talkies (if out of visual range). 4. Communicate to workers what kinds of work activities are planned and any safety expectations. 5. Ladders should extend beyond the surface being accessed and tied off to increase stability, when in use.
• Content Notes:
  Publication Date provided by FACE program
  
  not printed on the report.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Construction Industry Construction Materials Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Construction Construction-equipment Construction-industry Construction-materials Construction-workers Equipment-operators Extension-ladders Injuries Injury-prevention Ladders OSHA Region 10 Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Step-ladders Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Construction ; Hispanic ; Machine (All) ; Machine - Construction ; Foreign Born Workers ; Prevention through Design (PtD)
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE03OR016
• 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:
  8 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20026951
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2006-113384
• 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 03OR016, 2005 May ; :1-8
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• Performing Organization:
  Oregon Department of Human Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  23 - Construction - (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-512:8372a6803fd60d3ecf44a1f3bdc5e089a81032529f3c0841aaeea8b92f781543a2659730d587088a2ed72bbfe475b9e61f67e4e1189654fe633286c772a1a8e6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/169074/cdc_169074_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 295.73 KB ]