UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Abstract: At approximately 1:00 p.m. on August 23, 1984, Employee #1 and a coworker were told by the superintendent to get a 50 ft high, 5-ton capacity Orley Meyer overhead underslung crane from the northwest corner of the locomotive repair facility at the Seaboard System Railroad rice yard in Waycross, GA. The superintendent wanted them to make up some junction boxes for the ceiling lights over the crane. From the adjacent mezzanine, he observed them ascend to the crane without tagging and locking out the power for the lights. They moved the de-energized crane by pushing it with their feet and sliding along the rails on their posteriors without wearing safety belts and without tying off with a lanyard. As the superintendent continued to watch them he saw Employee #1 standing atop the crane without a scaffold and without a safety belt that had a lanyard tied off to a lifeline. Two employees heard him shout either "Wait a minute" or "Hang on a minute" to Employee #1. Employee #1 fell to the concrete floor and died instantly of a fractured skull. The facility had no lookout, no danger signs, and no barricaded floor area.