Inspection Detail

Inspection: 122239304 - Lariscy Mechanical Fabricators, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Savannah Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 and two coworkers were refurbishing a shacker conveyor system. The approximately 75 ft long conveyor was in a 4 ft deep pit, with its top was about 18 in. below the floor level. The conveyor was a drop area for three forging lines that sat over it. The workers cut the attachment plates and the bolts to free the conveyor from the support base before cutting the conveyor into 8 in., and approximately 600 lb, sections. The workers then burned a hole in the conveyor, attached a Clevis and cable, and used a forklift to pull the conveyor section from beneath the forging line and out of the pit. They had used this procedure on seven sections. When a section would bind, tension was removed from the cable and a worker would use a pry bar to free the bind, allowing the forklift to continue pulling. The workers were removing the eighth, and next to last, section when a bind occurred. Employee #1 used the same technique to free it, but when the bind gave way, the section lurched forward and struck the side of his face. He suffered a deep laceration, and a broken upper and lower jaw. Employee #1 was transported to the hospital, where he died two days later as a result of a blood clot traveling to his brain stem.

Keywords: BLOOD CLOT, FRACTURE, CAUGHT BY, CONSTRUCTION, LACERATION, CONVEYOR, STRUCK BY, FLYING OBJECT, FACE