Inspection Detail

Inspection: 106062367 - Joyce Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Wilkes Barre Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was driving a large rubber tired front end loader down and across the face of a steep hillside on an access road built by the employer. There were no guardrails or beams at the road edge to prevent vehicles from going off the road and down a forty five degree bank. Employee #1 was nearly at the bottom of the road when the loader rolled off the side of the road, falling 9 feet 6 inches down the bank to the ground below. The loader rolled 180 degrees, landing upside down. Employee #1 was crushed between the 33,000 pound loader and the ground. The vehicle was a Case Model W-26B, Serial Number 9107574, manufactured late in 1971. It was not equipped with a rollover protection system. There were no witnesses to the accident. Employee #1 had been given approximately 80 hours of supervised instruction in loader operation and had 4 to 6 weeks operating experience. He had driven the loader on this road several times previously. Damage to the loader indicated it was traveling at a very low rate of speed when it went off the road. Past accident tests of the loader did not reveal any defects with the service brakes, steering, or hydraulics. The medical examiner ruled out a heart attack as the cause of death, but could not rule out the possibility that the employee lost consciousness while operating the vehicle. The reason the loader left the roadway could not be determined.

Keywords: CHEST, ASPHYXIATED, FRONT END LOADER, ROLL-OVER, DRIVER, CRUSHED