Accident Report Detail

Accident Summary Nr: 200850907 - Employee killed when struck by falling steel beam

Accident Summary Nr: 200850907 -- Report ID: 0215000 -- Event Date: 06/22/1999
Inspection Nr	Date Opened	SIC	NAICS	Establishment Name
300621166	06/23/1999	1521	0	Wildman & Bernhardt Construction, Inc.

Abstract: Employee #1, a foreman, was engaged in demolishing a two-story brick building. He was using an acetylene torch to burn through a steel beam that was approximately 10 ft above the second-floor level. One end of it was supported by a pocket in the brick wall. The other end was supported by a steel column, to which it was secured by two bolts installed vertically into a flange on column's top. Employee #1 was sitting on the beam near the column end, burning transversely through it. When the beam was burned through, the burned end of the long part fell to the floor joists while the other end remained in the wall pocket. The two bolts could not withstand the moment of the now cantilevered beam section on which Employee #1 was sitting. The bolts and/or the bolt holes failed, and Employee #1 fell, face down, onto the floor joists. The beam section, which weighed approximately 600 lb, fell on top of him. Employee #1 was killed.

Keywords: ACETYLENE TORCH, DEMOLITION, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, BOLT, FALL, STRUCK BY, FALLING OBJECT, CUTTING AND BURNING, UNSTABLE POSITION

Accident Details
End Use		Project Type		Project Cost	Stories	Non-building Height	Fatality
Single family or duplex dwelling		New project or new addition		$1,000,000 to $5,000,000	5		X

Employee Details
Employee #	Inspection Nr	Age	Sex	Degree of Injury	Nature of Injury	Occupation	Construction
1	300621166			Fatality	Other	Supervisors; carpenters and related workers	Distance of Fall: feet Worker Height Above Ground/Floor: feet Cause: Demolition Fatality Cause: Collapse of structure

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