Inspection Detail

Inspection: 106749914 - J.F.Kiely Const.Co.Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Marlton Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 and coworkers were using a directional drilling machine to run a drain line under the Garden State Parkway. The machine was set up outside the southbound lanes of the parkway. The operator sent the rotor head 660 ft under the parkway to a position outside the northbound lanes. Employee #1 and a coworker were to remove the rotor head and attach a reamer head, so that when the operator put the machine in reverse, it pulled back the reamer and widened the hole. In addition, the two employees were to install 10 ft lengths of 2.5-in.-diameter steel pipe to the screw end of the reamer to maintain the integrity of the hole. The pipe was threaded one section into another. The hole into which the pipe was going was at a 45-degree angle, and the thread of the proceeding pipe stuck out approximately 18 to 24 inches above grade. Employee #1 picked up a 10-ft section of pipe in the middle and held it down at a 45-degree angle to screw one end into the other. The machine was stopped at this point while the worker at the other end removed a section that was already pulled through. The machine would stop the pipe at the same time every time. After the pipe was threaded hand-tight, the other worker would use a wrench to tighten the pipe. The machine would start and turn slowly. The employee would hold the pipe until it entered the hole, then release it. Employee #1 and his coworker had working two-way radios and were in communication with the operator, who was 660 ft away. Employee #1 was guiding the pipe into the hole when his shirt caught in the slowly rotating pipe. The coworker attempted to cut away some of the employee's clothing with a pocket knife. When that attempt failed, he picked up the two-way radio and yelled for the operator, but at that point the coworker was in a panic and unable to get the radio to work. He then noticed that the pipe was spinning free and no longer entangling Employee #1's shirt. The coworker started to run toward the operator when he turned briefly and saw the pipe had again started to entangle Employee #1's shirt. The coworker ran to the operator's station to have the machine shut down. Employee #1 was killed.

Keywords: CLOTHING, ROTATING PARTS, CONSTRUCTION, PIPE, BORING MACHINE, ENTANGLED, COMMUNICATION