UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employee #1 was working near a 6,000 lb asphalt batch plant cyclone that was staged and blocked on a concrete pad prior to being installed as a replacement for the plant's existing cyclone. A major part of the work was installing ceramic wear tiles to the upper interior, around the inside circumference of the intake area, and included installation of exterior mounting brackets on the upper area of the cone portion of the unit. That morning, the unit had been prepared for work, and closure buttons for some of the ceramic tiles had been installed. Employee #1 was moving near the exterior of the cyclone when it rolled onto him. He sustained multiple injuries for which he was hospitalized. The unit on the side where Employee #1 was walking had been blocked, although the work plan called for rolling the cyclone to facilitate access to the interior for further tile installation. There was no indication that the cyclone rolled over the blocking materials, which were found to be effective for the task. Reconstruction of the conditions prior to the accident suggests that the blocking had been removed, although Employee #1 stated that he had no knowledge of this being done.