Inspection Detail

Inspection: 106650419 - Thermo Tech, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Baton Rouge Area Office

Investigation Summary

On October 13, 1989, Employee #1, laborer, was working with another employee and stripping asbestos fireproofing material off the walls of an elevator hoist way. He was working from a scaffold built in the pit up to the plaza level but climbed over the rail and was standing on a beam. Another employee got on the elevator car in the same hoist way and took the car up to the top floor. The limit switch was reset not to allow the car to pass the 5th floor. As the car was moving up, the counterweight of 4500 lb was moving down the guidelines that were approximately 24 in. from the back wall of the hoist way. Just when Employee #1 was stepping between the guide rails from the beam back onto the scaffold when the counterweight came down, struck Employee #1's left shoulder, crushed his chest, and killed him.

Keywords: BEAM, SHOULDER, RAIL, CONSTRUCTION, HOIST, CRUSHED, PIT, ELEVATOR, ASBESTOS, SCAFFOLD