Inspection Detail

Inspection: 104388764 - Hdo Productions, 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 a coworker were erecting a 140-ft by 100-ft push-pole roped tent, placing the last of twenty 2.5-in.-diameter by 21-ft-long steel quarter poles. The coworker was driving a fork truck to move the bottom of the pole, and Employee #1 was looking for a previous stake hole created when the company had previously placed a tent at this location. They staked and lashed the bottoms of poles, which, like about 50 percent of steel quarter poles, were in two parts joined together. The coworker pushed the bottom toward the corner. The location had been reached, but the pole snapped at the coupling (4 to 5 ft from the bottom) and fractured the corner, striking Employee #1 in the face and chest and knocking him to the ground. He sustained lacerations, contusions, and fractures, for which he was hospitalized. The coworker estimated that he had overseen the erection of some 1,000 steel quarter poles and had never seen this happen. Employee #1 had been with the company about 2 years.

Keywords: CHEST, ERECTION PROCESS, FRACTURE, EQUIPMENT FAILURE, LACERATION, STRUCK BY, FACE, CONTUSION