UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Abstract: "At about 11:00 a.m. on March 2, 2010, Employee #1, an iron worker, was on site of a hospital addition project of the Glendale Adventist Hospital in Glendale, CA. The project involved the placing of structural steel. At the time of the accident, a 30-foot-long, 2,100-pound steel member with welded flanges for connection was being hoisted by the site tower crane using a wire rope choker sling that had been rigged by Coworker #1. The steel girder was to be placed horizontally as part of the floor framing for the third floor. Two ironworker connectors were seated in position waiting for the steel to be hoisted into position for connection while Employee #1 operated the tag line. Although most of the structural steel was being lifted from a bone yard on the north end of the site, this load had been lifted from the decking north of the accident site and was being placed from the bottom up due to site conditions and logistics. The load was being lifted at "half speed, second clutch" (approximately 2.32 feet per second or 139 feet per minute). As the load approached close to the connection points, the tag line needed to be pulled on with some force to get the connection flanges between the structural flanges of the previously connected members. The load line lifting the structural steel member failed causing the structural steel member to fall approximately 20 feet to the deck below, striking Employee #1. Employee #1 was transported to Glendale Adventist Medical Center and hospitalized more than 24 hours. Employee #1 sustained serious injuries to the left leg, back and the back of his head. The ground floor had been fully decked and steel members were being placed for the first two floors. Earlier that morning, two large horizontal structural steel members weighing about 70,000 pounds each had been placed without incident. Coworker #1 had been using the tag lines on those picks. At the time of the accident, the top of the hoisted girder became caught up, or toggled, on the lower third floor structural flanges while the load continued to be lifted by the crane. The crane operators view is often somewhat obscured at construction sites and crane operators are therefore partially reliant upon radio communication from riggers or other appointed directors. In this case, the tower crane operator was in communication with Coworker #2. When the load became caught up on the existing structure, Coworker #2 radioed to Coworker #1 to stop the lift by yelling "high" but the lag time between Coworker #1 coming off the lever in the cab and the load stopping allowed the jib of the crane to dip. When the crane rebounded from this dip caused by the binding of the load with the structure, the upward force was sufficient to break the sling, thus dropping the load. Employee #1 was wearing a hardhat, steel toe safety boots and protective eyewear, suitable to the working environment. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) was informed of the accident on the day of the accident at about 11:20 a.m. via Glendale Fire Department."