Abstract: Employee #1 was a laborer and the brother of the excavator operator. The two of them and another laborer were moving three 20 in. by 100 ft pipes from a right-of-way. They had successfully moved two sections of pipe and were trying to hook the last section. In order for the sling to reach the hook, the excavator had to be moved forward. The operator moved the excavator forward, but on an uneven surface. When the tracks of the excavator climbed over a mound of dirt, the excavator bucket pitched and swung downward, striking Employee #1, who was standing between the pipe and the excavator bucket, and killing him.