Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1094154.015 - D.D.M. Investments, Inc Dba Wieland'S Lawn Services

Inspection Information - Office: Fairview Heights Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 3:26 p.m. on September 23, 2015, Employee #1 was working for a landscaping service. He and a coworker were cutting lawns in a large residential subdivision. The weather was 21 degrees Celsius (69 degrees Fahrenheit), with 78 percent relative humidity. Visibility was 16 kilometers (10 miles), with calm winds out of the east-southeast. At approximately 8:00 a.m. that day, Employee #1 and his coworker started mowing the lawns in the residential subdivision. Employee #1 was operating a SCAG Turf Tiger Model STT61V-791 zero-radius turn commercial mower, with Serial Number H9600165. This was a riding mower, on which the operator sat down to operate the mower. The coworker was operating a stand-behind-style mower (a "sulkie," if it was a riding mower). Behind the houses in the subdivision was a large pond. Employee #1 was mowing an area around the pond in the subdivision. As was common, the two workers were not mowing in the same area. As Employee #1 operated his mower around the edge of the pond, a wheel slid off the grass. As a result, the mower rolled over into the pond. Employee #1 was pinned beneath the mower in water approximately 0.8 meters (30 inches) deep. The mower's roll-over protection system (ROPS) was engaged in the upright position. Employee #1 was not wearing a seat belt and he drowned.

Keywords: Drown, Drowning, Inexperience, Lawn Mower, ROPS, Riding on Equipment, Roll-Over, Seat Belt, Slippery Surface, Slope, Sloping, Walking Surface, Water, Work Rules