FACE Facts: Workers Killed! No Lockout/Tagout

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  California. Department of Public Health
• Description:
  The California Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program has been investigating work­related deaths since 1992. The goal of the FACE program is to prevent these deaths by informing workers and managers of worksite hazards and how to avoid them. The two incidents below involve workers who died when there was a failure to de­energize and lockout/tagout a piece of equipment before they worked on it. MECHANIC CRUSHED IN ESCALATOR: A 37­year­old escalator mechanic, Jorge H.* (* Not the victim's real name), died when he was crushed in an escalator while performing maintenance. Jorge had removed the escalator stairs and crawled inside the mechanism of the escalator. A co­worker dropped the escalator's electrical circuit box. This triggered a relay and sent power to the escalator. The stairs began moving. Jorge could not get out before the power was turned off. There were no locks or tags on the power controls to the escalator. The disconnect switch at the circuit panel that fed power to the elevator had not been locked and tagged out. No blocks or mechanical devices had been used to keep the escalator from moving. WELDER CRUSHED TO DEATH BY SHREDDER: A 52­year­old welder, Jeff K.* (* Not the victim's real name), died when he was crushed to death by a hydraulic door on a scrap metal shredder. Jeff was trying to remove a jammed piece of metal from the hydraulic door. The system's energy had not been released and the door had not been blocked open. Jeff had not de­energized and locked out the machine. He cut the jammed piece of metal with a torch. The jam fell away and the door closed on him. The company did not require a supervisor's visual confirmation of de­energization and lockout/tagout prior to maintenance work. RECOMMENDATIONS: Workers should: Be sure machines are de­energized and locked and tagged out before they do maintenance. Block machines from moving before doing maintenance. Employers should: Consider requiring that workers be directly supervised during lockout/tagout. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Maintenance Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Mortality Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Fatalities Hydraulic Equipment Injuries Injury Prevention Lockout Tagout Machine Operators Machinery Maintenance Workers Safety Practices
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Publisher:
  California Department of Public Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Fact Sheet
• 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:
  1-2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20060162
• Citation:
  Richmond, CA: California Department of Public Health, 2003 Jul; :1-2
• Contact Point Address:
  California Department of Public Health, Occupational Health Branch (OHB), FACE Program, 850 Marina Bay Parkway, Building P, 3rd Floor, Richmond, CA 94804
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• Performing Organization:
  Public Health Institute
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19910930
• Source Full Name:
  FACE facts: workers killed! No lockout/tagout
• End Date:
  20060831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3cf2cd9397a762df2d7628f4fefe6251ebcc6ade0f000eb83dfdc8c3b506a7c34e0ba65bf3b32c48ecaea63fb4fc6aebb6294fccd3ca121369441763b9a42b70
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/229024/cdc_229024_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 345.46 KB ]