Inspection Detail

Inspection: 112145172 - Tutor-Saliba-Perini

Inspection Information - Office: Van Nuys Mining & Tunneling District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 9:30 a.m. on March 31, 1993, Employee #1 was standing on the rungs of a 10 ft portable metal extension ladder that had been extended to 20 ft and was leaning against the edge of the bed of a rail flatcar. Its feet were on the curved inside surface of a blockout ring 21 ft in diameter. On each side of the ring, cast-in-place concrete had been placed and cured, creating a flat surface 2 ft above the lowest point of the ring with cribbing supporting the rail over the resulting pit. The ladder's contact point with the flatcar was 6 ft above the lowest point of the ring, and the flatcar's wheels were chocked. Employee #1 had completed an overhead cut of a metal plate off the metal blockout ring, using a cutting torch. Employee #1 is 6 ft tall. His position created a fall distance of between 12 and 14 ft. He fell from the ladder and suffered a fractured skull, lacerated scalp, fractured left wrist, three fractured vertebrae, and left shoulder neuralgia associated with the fractured vertebrae.

Keywords: FRACTURE, EXTENSION LADDER, SCALP, CONSTRUCTION, LACERATION, SKULL, FALL, VERTEBRA, WRIST