Inspection Detail

Inspection: 125835876 - Robinson Enterprises, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Sacramento District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 4:00 p.m. on November 3, 1998, Employee #1, of Robinson Enterprises, was working at a logging site about 10 miles from the road. He was moving a boom-type log loader weighing more than 100,000 lb down a steep logging road from one location to another. Employee #1 was rounding a very sharp corner when the booster brakes failed. The vacuum brake system could not hold the unit and the log loader ran over the embankment and traveled, in a twisting somersault, about 80 ft down the mountainside. Employee #1 tried to jump off but was ejected downhill, where the loader pinned him to the soft ground. He suffered a fractured leg and pelvis, a dislocated hip, and multiple internal injuries. Employee #1 was administered first aid by local paramedics before being flown by Life Flight to Sutter Roseville Hospital in Roseville, CA.

Keywords: EMBANKMENT, FRACTURE, LOG LOADER, BRAKE, PINNED, EQUIPMENT OPERATOR, EQUIPMENT FAILURE, FALL, LOGGING, OVERTURN