Fatality Narrative: Bulldozer Operator Caught Between Track and Fender

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  On February 4, 2010, a 68-year-old construction site supervisor and heavy equipment operator was fatally injured when he was crushed between a bulldozer's track and fender. For the past ten years he had been employed by a contractor that does site development, residential and commercial work. He had 48 years experience operating construction equipment. On the day of the incident, he was supervising a crew at a fill and compacting project. A dump truck driver arrived with a load of dirt and he got down from the bulldozer he was operating and walked over to the driver to give him instructions as to where to place the dirt. He left the bulldozer's engine running and did not set its parking brake. As he attempted to return to the operator's seat he was standing on the top of the bulldozer's tread when his elbow hit the transmission shifter lever out of neutral into reverse. As the bulldozer began to move backward his left foot was caught between the moving track and the underside of the fender. His leg was pulled in and crushed while the bulldozer carried him several yards before ejecting him onto the ground. Emergency responders took him to a hospital where he died of his injuries 15 days later. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Construction Industry Construction Materials Occupational Health Safety Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident Prevention Construction Construction Equipment Construction Materials Equipment Design Equipment Operation Equipment Operators Equipment Reliability Hazards Injuries Safety Measures Safety Practices Training Traumatic Injuries Work Environment Workers

  More +
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Publisher:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051511
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-120-2013, 2013 May; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Fatality narrative: bulldozer operator caught between track and fender
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:91cf2efc0da89426afa6a40dfe39fd85187f9e817853530973eda2b60d89c146967b0f564ab0bd0d1f37c476ad7ee0bb188b0700478a0817d8d593a7f38f63c1
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228751/cdc_228751_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 215.47 KB ]