Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1397198.015 - Glenwood Resource Center

Inspection Information - Office: Iowa 0751910

Investigation Summary

At 2:30 p.m. on April 22, 2019, an employee was working as an electrician at a psychiatric and substance abuse hospital. He was operating a Bobcat model number S570 skid-steer loader, with serial number ALM426954. He was backfilling an excavation approximately 1.1 meters (43 inches) deep in the hospital's cemetery. The soil was saturated with water. The employee overfilled the bucket. When he attempted to raise the bucket, it did not move. The back end of the Bobcat came off the ground. Attempting to correct the imbalance, the employee reversed the pedals. The machine came down abruptly, and this action caused the pedals to be reversed again. The result was another sudden motion. The abrupt movements of the machine caused the operator to strike his head and elbow on the cab walls and interior of the roll cage. He suffered contusions on the crown of his head and elbow and a concussion. He was hospitalized. All during time that the work was being performed, the employee had the lap bar engaged. He was not, though, wearing the lap belt or the shoulder strap.

Keywords: Concussion, Contusion, Elbow, Equipment Operator, Head, ROPS, Seat Belt, Skidder, Struck Against