Inspection Detail

Inspection: 102027158 - Rockingham Construction Company Incorporated

Inspection Information - Office: Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation Division Of Labor And Industry Maryland Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

On November 21, 1985, Employee #1 was part of a work crew that was pulling aluminum electric cable with a power-operated reel to which a 19-millimeter-diameter nylon rope was attached. The rope was unreeled from the spool through pulleys up to a crossarm on a wooden utility pole, across eight poles to the last pole, and then down to the aluminum cable. The cable was held on a spool-mounted tension machine that provided resistance against which the pulling machine (Pengo Model No. TRCP-60 ) worked. The pulling machine rope was secured to the last pole with a tie line to prevent the rope from slipping back toward the pulling machine. The rope was then attached to the cable by kellum grips. After Employee #1 had attached the line to the rope and the rope to the cable, he gave the signal to start the pulling machine. Employee #1 was then told that the tie line had not been removed from the pulling rope. Employee #1 apparently misunderstood the message; he ran over to the slack pulling rope and tried to pull down on it to get enough slack to free the tie line. Tension was being put on the pulling rope at the same time, causing the tie line to break. The tension was then transferred to the slack part of the rope, which catapulted Employee #1 9 meters in the air. He fell back into the cable machine and was killed.

Keywords: EJECTED, ROPE, STRUCK AGAINST, BROKEN CABLE, CONSTRUCTION, FALL, COMMUNICATION