Inspection Detail

Inspection: 104827969 - Portland Tn Highway Dept

Inspection Information - Office: Nys Dol Pesh Buffalo

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was part of a six-man crew that was pulling an old 12 in. diameter, 40 ft long corrugated steel culvert from an open road crossing. The crew was using a backhoe parked on the center line of the road. A 12 ft 3/8 in. alloy chain was connected at one end to the teeth of the bucket on the backhoe and chocked around the culvert at the other. A 20 ft section was hoisted without incident. The remaining 20 ft section was chocked at the north end with the chain sling but as the operator began hoisting the pipe bent upward and the chain moved to the bent area, 6 ft from the north end. Employee #1 and a coworker were standing on the south end of the road crossing, about 10 ft away from the south end of the culvert. As the pipe was hoisted it resisted momentarily and then snapped from its resting place toward the two men. The ends were bouncing up and down as the operator stopped all motion. Both men were fleeing the site when Employee #1, who was not wearing a hard hat, was struck by the culvert behind his right ear. He sustained a fractured skull and was killed. The backhoe's position at 45 degrees north of center caused the culvert to snap in that direction.

Keywords: CLEARANCE, HEAD, HARD HAT, UNSECURED, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, STRUCK BY, BACKHOE