Inspection Detail

Inspection: 125445643 - Springhope Construction, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Va-E-Manassas (Regional Office)- Safety 0355114

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, age 17, was part of a three-man crew installing the jib portion of a 28-ton 1998 USTC hydraulic crane (Taxi-King model), that was mounted on the bed of a 1998 Freightliner truck, model 112 . The crane operator had pulled the rear and front pins, which held the jib in place when not in use and while traveling down the highway. He had then gone into the cab of the crane. The other coworker, the construction company owner, had just recently arrived on the job site. Employee #1, a laborer, had gone over to help install the jib. The owner said that when he got back in the cab of the crane, the operator was standing on a foot ladder, installing the bolts that attached the jib to the boom. Employee #1 was standing on the ground next to the ladder. The operator supposedly motioned to the owner to move the boom to align the holes in the frame of the jib with the hole in the frame of the boom. The two coworkers heard a loud noise, and the jib seemed to jump off the truck. It landed on Employee #1, striking him in the neck and shoulders. He was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Keywords: UNSECURED, CRANE BOOM, WORK RULES, JIB CRANE, CONSTRUCTION, MECH MAT HANDLING, STRUCK BY, FALLING OBJECT, COMMUNICATION, HYDRAULIC CRANE