Inspection Detail

Inspection: 104388418 - Todd-Gary Inc.

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

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 and five coworkers for Todd-Gary, Inc., had laid two 8.33-ft.-long, 27-in.-wide storm drain pipes that weighed 3,375 lb.. At approximately 12:00 noon, the crew leader-equipment operator and Employee #1, a pipesetter, began to get the next storm pipe ready to go into the excavation. A stone box was moved first, then the crew leader moved his crawler excavator so it was in line with the excavation to the south and the stone box to the north. The concrete pipes were next to the crawler. He swung the crawler bucket over to the next pipe. Employee #1 placed a heavy steel chain around the pipe and hooked the other end to the bucket. The pipe was lifted, but both employees noticed that a clump of frozen soil was stuck to the pipe in a spot that would affect how the pipe would lie in the excavation. The crew leader placed the pipe back down on the ground between the crawler and the stone box at a 45-degree angle. Employee #1 relocated the chain on the pipe, changing the side on which the frozen dirt would be when the pipe was placed in the excavation. Once the chain was secured, he gave the up signal to the crew leader. He was between the pipe and the stone box, but the crew leader thought that he had moved clear of the lift. As the pipe was lifted, it swung around (south to north), striking Employee #1 in the chest and driving him into the 5.58-ft-wide stone box. Paramedics were called and pronounced him dead at the scene.

Keywords: CHEST, CLEARANCE, EXCAVATION, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, CONCRETE PIPE, STRUCK BY, COMMUNICATION, INATTENTION