Accident Report Detail
Accident Summary Nr: 201034121 - Employee killed after being crushed by hydraulic door
Inspection Nr | Date Opened | SIC | NAICS | Establishment Name |
---|---|---|---|---|
300763349 | 03/15/2002 | 5093 | 0 | Hugo Neu Proler |
Abstract: At approximately 8:40 p.m. on March 15, 2002, Employee #1, a welder working for a scrap metal recycling company, was crushed when a hydraulically actuated door slammed shut, pinning him. The door was part of the company's auto shredder, a machine resembling a mill that shreds scrap automobiles into small pieces of scrap. Employee #1 had been in the process of cutting out a piece of material which had wedged the door in the open position. The employee was using a ladder to climb up onto the door which lay roughly in a horizontal plane. A supervisor was holding a portable light for him. Once the wedged material had been cut free, the door slammed shut, crushing Employee #1 and throwing the coworker into the mill's rotor. The rotor had been properly locked out and stopped. During the unjamming procedure, the hydraulic pump had not been deenergized or disengaged, the pressure had not been bled off the hydraulic system, nor had the hydraulically actuated door been mechanically blocked to prevent inadvertent movement. The supervisor stated that he told Employee #1 to lock out the hydraulic pump when he told him to get the cutting torch. Employee #1 was killed; the supervisor sustained minor injuries, and another coworker, a laborer, who was struck by the supervisor, sustained minor back injuries. (The supervisor and coworker were not listed on injury lines on the original form.) Employee #1 had worked for the company 22 years.
Employee # | Inspection Nr | Age | Sex | Degree of Injury | Nature of Injury | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 300763349 | Fatality | Other | Welders and cutters |