Inspection Detail

Inspection: 120302674 - Rio Doce Pasha Terminals

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 2:00 p.m. on September 30, 1998, Employee #1 and a coworker were helping unload pipe bundles from a ship onto a trailer approximately 60 ft away. The load from the swinging ship-mounted vessel crane #2 contained three bundles of 30 ft long by 8 in. diameter pipes in crane slings. The entire load weighed approximately 8 tons. The crane operator landed the bundles on the trailer and the slings went slack, having been released from the crane. Employee #1 and the coworker ascended the trailer to unhook the slings. To check the stability of the pipe bundles, Employee #1 put his left leg on them and kicked them, while his right foot was on the trailer bed. When he had done this before, any unstable bundles rolled away from him. This time, however, some bundles rolled toward him, pinning his right leg against one of the four vertical, detachable uprights used to prevent the load from rolling entirely off the trailer bed. Employee #1 fell off the trailer, but remained suspended by his pinned leg, his body hanging down from the trailer and his hand almost touching the dock. The crane operator on the ship saw what had happened and immediately started to raise the loose crane sling. As soon as the bundle trapping his right leg was raised, Employee #1 fell to the ground. His right tibia was badly fractured and he was hospitalized for over 8 days. At the time this report was written, Employee #1 stated that doctors were still unsure whether his leg could be saved. The pipes on the trailer created a hazard because they were not stacked or racked in a manner to prevent them from rolling or tipping, and there was no safe method for accessing the high piles of materials.

Keywords: LONGSHORING, FRACTURE, TIBIA, PINNED, LOAD SHIFT, CAUGHT BETWEEN, OFF LOADING, TRAILER, LEG, UNSTABLE POSITION