Accident Report Detail
Accident Summary Nr: 202475703 - Employee Is Killed When Struck by Cable or Anchor
Inspection Nr | Date Opened | SIC | NAICS | Establishment Name |
---|---|---|---|---|
312661259 | 06/25/2009 | 4212 | 562111 | Waste & Recycling Services, Inc. |
Abstract: At approximately 5:00 p.m. on June 25, 2009, Employee #1, a mechanic at Waste & Recycling Services, Inc., Irwindale, CA, replaced a broken 85 ft by 0.875 in. steel wire rope hoist cable on a 1996 Volvo/GM truck equipped with a Amrac hydraulically powered cable hoist. The wire rope was supplied by the manufacturer with one end formed into a loop with a thimble and a swage which retained a closed steel link and weighed approximately five pounds. The other end of the wire rope was retained with three Crosby clamps, which had been installed by the employee with air tools. The company would perform waste collection and recycling services and had nine employees and operates six waste collection trucks, including two trucks equipped with hydraulically powered cable hoists. The employee was working alone after 4:00 p.m. and was later discovered lying in a pool of blood adjacent to the hydraulic cable hoist controls. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Los Angeles County fire paramedics. The physical evidence indicated that the employee had placed the closed steel link (connected to the swaged end of the wire rope) on a retaining hook welded to the truck frame. The employee operated the hydraulic controls to tension the wire rope at which point the welds securing the steel hook to the truck frame failed. The steel hook was discovered approximately 75 ft away from its original position. Inspection of the steel hook also revealed that 50 percent of the welded surface of the hook had been rusted through and was not attached to the truck frame prior to the accident. When the steel hook broke free from the truck frame, the employee was struck by the steel link attached to the swaged end of the wire rope and sustained a fatal head injury. The employer received Title 8 CCR Section 3203(a), Section 3328(a), Section 3328(g) and 4345(a) citations, but no accident-related citations were issued.
Employee # | Inspection Nr | Age | Sex | Degree of Injury | Nature of Injury | Occupation |
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1 | 312661259 | Fatality | Other | Heavy equipment mechanics |