Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1158075.015 - Brandenburg Industrial Service Company

Inspection Information - Office: Madison Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 11:00 a.m. on June 24, 2016, an employee was working inside of a building that was scheduled to be demolished. A demolition contractor was demolishing a multiple story coal energy plant. After performing necessary cuts on the structural steel on multiple floors, the plan was for the company to pull the bottom columns out and a large section of the building would collapse. The company made cuts to the columns at the bottom, top, and a notch about 6 feet off of the floor. The company then attached wire ropes to each of the columns and used an excavator to pull the wire ropes one at a time to the exterior of the building until that section of the building collapsed. On June 24, 2016, the company successfully pulled one column down, but when pulling on the second column the wire rope broke. After connecting a new wire rope and pulling again, the second wire rope broke. At around 11:00 a.m., multiple employees went into the building to make additional cuts to the columns. After one of the columns was recut, the superintendent used a sledge hammer to hit the column multiple times. After striking the column a few times, it broke at the notch and fell down. The upper part of the column struck the superintendent in the abdomen. He was transported to the hospital and died that day from multiple abdominal injuries.

Keywords: Abdomen, Demolition, Falling Object, Struck By, Structural Collapse