Inspection Detail

Note: The following inspection has not been indicated as closed. OSHA citation items will be posted 30 (thirty) days after the employer receives the citation(s), except in cases of significant public interest. Posted citation items reflect any amendments to citations that are the result of a prompt settlement, which OSHA encourages. Employers and employee representatives will continue to receive copies of the citation(s) upon issuance.

Inspection: 1495391.015 - Service Electric Company

Inspection Information - Office: Tennessee Osha Gray Office - Safety

Investigation Summary

At 3:00 p.m. on September 23, 2020, an employee was working for an electrical and other wiring installation contractor. He was an operating engineer. He and a coworker were performing some minor maintenance on the day of the incident. As the coworker was washing a truck, the employee was fixing the cable on an Elliott Equipment Company model 40142 truck-mounted crane. The crane deck where the employee was working was 75 in. (1.91 meters) above the ground. The employee had extended the boom and had run out the cable on the winch. He was ready to rewind the load line. He asked his coworker to run the controls while he (the employee) used a hammer and a prybar to get the cable to wind correctly. The coworker started by operating the winch. The employee told the coworker to start retracting the boom as well. The coworker was retracting the boom when the employee yelled at him to stop and then to re-extend the boom. The coworker left the cab, and the employee told him that he needed to go to the hospital. A third worker asked the employee what he got into. The employee told him that he had slipped and that his hand had entered an open portal on the boom. Another account said that the employee was resting his hand in an area where the telescoping crane boom moved. In any event, the employee's hand was struck when the boom was being retracted. The retracting boom hit his fingers, amputating the middle, ring, and small fingers on his left hand. The employee was hospitalized. Neither the employee nor the coworker were certified crane operators. The corker was a blaster, and the employee was an equipment operator but not a crane operator. Both had been trained on how to operate the basic controls and how to perform minor maintenance. The operator's manual was in the cab of the crane.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Caught Between, Caught In, Construction, Crane, Crane Boom, Crane Operator, Crushed, Equipment Operator, Finger, Instantaneous amputation, Load Line, Maintenance, Material Handling, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Nip Point, Traumatic Amputation, Untrained