Ironworker Crushed Between Crane Outrigger and Back of Stretch Deck Trailer

Details

• Personal Author:
  Beller, Michael ; Choromanski, Deborah
• Corporate Authors:
  Alaska Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Project (Alaska FACE) ; Alaska. Division of Public Health. Section of Epidemiology. Occupational Injury Prevention Program
• Description:
  A 51-year-old ironworker was crushed when he went to unhook a chain between a mobile crane and a stretch deck trailer. The victim and three co-workers were assisting a tractor-trailer driver to stretch and pin the trailer. Because they were having some difficulty stretching the trailer using only dunnage (a length of wood to block the wheels) in front of the rear wheels, the end of the trailer was chained to the crane's extended outrigger to prevent the rear section from moving. After the trailer was stretched, the dunnage was repositioned for the alignment and placement of locking pins. As the tractor was moved backwards, pushing the front and rear sections together, the dunnage became lodged under the wheels. With the trailer sections pinned in place, the driver exited the cab to discuss the load and the position of the trailer with the victim. There was concern that the trailer was too close to load. The driver noticed the position of the dunnage under the wheels and called to the group of workers standing to the side of the trailer that he needed to roll the trailer back. As the driver entered the tractor cab, the victim walked between the crane and the trailer to remove the chain. The tractor-trailer rolled back, crushing the victim between the crane's outrigger and the trailer. Co-workers went to the rear of the trailer and called to the driver to move the trailer forward. Emergency medical services were called immediately after the incident and transported the victim to a nearby medical center. The victim died later that day. Based on the findings of the investigation, to prevent similar occurrences, employers should: 1 Ensure that workers are able to recognize and avoid hazardous situations and be able to effectively warn others of potential hazards
  
  2. Install back-up alarms on all motor vehicles and equipment where the operator's vision is restricted
  
  3. Require the use of helpers whenever backing and re-positioning tractor-trailers or other trucks
  
  4. Consider routinely evaluating driving, loading, and unloading practices.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Automobiles Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-prevention Drivers Equipment-operators Injuries Injury-prevention Occupational-accidents OSHA Region 10 Safety-education Safety-measures Safety-practices Training Traumatic-injuries Truck-drivers Work-analysis Work-environment Work-practices

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Construction
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE98AK018
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  9 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20026919
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2011-100739
• 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 98AK018, 1998 Oct ; :1-9
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1999
• Performing Organization:
  Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  23 - Construction - (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-512:04766b0bc5264a750d7f1a4f7bfdae87144bb7ce58b8b9855de1e15e93b41baa22edd8e570508327564b9f8babb0e486110e942fedc931f2e795103d9941ac79
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/169100/cdc_169100_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 26.20 KB ]