Inspection Detail

Inspection: 107092900 - Carbo, Incorporated

Inspection Information - Office: Jackson Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 4:00 p.m. on March 17, 1999, Employee #1, of Carbo Inc., was directed by his employer to accompany a friend of the employer who needed assistance extracting a Caterpillar 416-C backhoe that had become stuck in soft ground on a highway shoulder outside of Morgan City, MS. The employer's friend had left the South Fresh Farms Maintenance Shop on his company's leased Caterpillar and had been headed north to help the employer load diesel truck engines onto a flatbed trailer. While traveling the 2.8 miles into town on the mostly gravel and dirt farm-to-market road, the friend saw some standing water near the east shoulder of the road. He stopped and began to use the backhoe's 4 yard front loader bucket to cut a drainage swath in the soft road shoulder. The friend customarily maintained the road in this way, primarily so trucks hauling catfish for South Fresh Farms would not get stuck. As he was working on the drainage swath, the backhoe's right-side wheels became stuck in the dirt. The friend then hitched a ride into town to summon help from Employee #1's supervisor, who owned an International winch truck which he used in his house moving business. Employee #1 was directed to take the winch truck and to help pull the backhoe out of the ditch. Before beginning the extraction, the friend had to balance the backhoe by shifting the bucket to the right. After the machine was pulled out of the ditch, the friend said he needed to move the backhoe attachment's boom and bucket to allow Employee #1 to unhook the winch line's tail chain. When the friend pulled the backhoe's bucket in toward the boom, he heard a crunching sound. Employee #1 had become caught between the backhoe bucket and the boom. He was crushed and killed. Employee #1 had moved between the boom and the bucket instead of waiting for an appropriate signal that it was safe to do so.

Keywords: DERRICK TRUCK, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, CAUGHT BETWEEN, CRUSHED, MIRED, TRUCK BOOM, BACKHOE BUCKET, COMMUNICATION, HIGHWAY SHOULDER