Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1386004.015 - Tex Excavating Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Madison Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 7:55 a.m. on March 18, 2019, Employee #1, the owner of an excavating company, and a coworker, his son, were attempting to free the 2000 International quad axle dump truck, Vehicle Identification Number 1HTXHAXT3YJ0778862 from a parked position in the company's equipment storage yard alongside the owner's home. The drive tires of the dump truck were stuck in ice, the product of melted snow that had refrozen while the truck was parked during the previous two days of below-freezing temperatures. The owner initially had tried to drive the dump truck out of the ice, without success. He then used an electric heat gun in an attempt to melt the ice around the tires, also without success. He telephoned his son to come with a pickup truck and tow strap. The son arrived and connected the two trucks with a synthetic web tow strap. The owner entered the cab of the dump truck, and the son, driving the pickup truck, succeeded in pulling the dump truck out of the ice. Both exited their truck cabs. As the owner began picking up the heat gun and extension cord, he instructed his son to move the dump truck further forward. The son entered the dump truck cab and drove forward and to the right of the pickup truck. He then parked and exited the truck, whereupon he saw his father on the ground. The father, without the son's knowledge, had moved to a position alongside the dump truck. The dump truck had struck the father and run over his head, and he was killed.

Keywords: Caught In, Construction, Dump Truck, Excavation, Frozen, Head, Run Over, Struck By, Tire