Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1532731.015 - Calcium Products

Inspection Information - Office: Iowa 0751910

Investigation Summary

At 8:30 p.m. on May 16, 2021, an employee working for a lime manufacturer was standing in front of the Cedar Rapids Hammer Mill/Rock Crusher. A coworker, heavy equipment operator, was working outside operating a 2010 21,231-pound Komatsu WA200-6 Wheel Loader (serial number 71155) moving rock. The coworker drove the loader into the east overhead door of the south plant to park it in front of the rock crusher just south inside the door (the usual parking spot). The coworker saw the employee upon entering the plant and paused briefly. He then turned left (South) to park the loader thinking the employee had moved out of the way. After coming to a stop, the coworker accidentally pressed the accelerator and brake pedals simultaneously causing the loader to move forward unexpectedly. The loader pinned the employee between the edge of the stockpile bucket and the frame of the rock crusher. The employee was hospitalized to treat multiple rib fractures, bilateral arm fractures, a broken collarbone, a ruptured spleen, inured kidney, punctured lung, a lacerated aorta and other injuries.

Keywords: Arm, Back, Broken, Broken Bone, Bucket , Chest, Collarbone, Crushed, Equipment Operator, Fracture, Heart, Internal , Internal Bleeding, Internal Injuries, Kidney, Lack of Work Procedures, Lighting, Loader, Loader Bucket, Lost Control, Lung, Machine operator, Material Handling, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Motor Vehicle, Pinned, Puncture, Puncture Wound, Rib, Rock, Rock Crusher, Safety Device, Spleen, Struck Against, Torso, Walking Surface, Wheel Loader, Work Surface