UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Inspection Detail

Note: The following inspection has not been indicated as closed. Please be aware that the information shown may change, e.g. violations may be added or deleted. For open cases, in which a citation has been issued, the citation information may not be available for 5 days following receipt by the employer for Federal inspections or for 30 days following receipt by the employer for State inspections.

Inspection: 1571968.015 - 75261 - Town Of Great Falls-Public Works

Inspection Information - Office: South Carolina Priv

Investigation Summary

At 12:00 a.m. on January 7, 2022, Employee #1 was working out of a van equipped with a bucket lift taking down Christmas decorations in the roadway. The Christm as decorations were approximately 20 feet above ground level. Employee #1 and cr ew were near the end of the task and had three more wreaths to take down prior t o the incident. Employee #1 was wearing a harness and lanyard riding in the buck et of the lift, while the supervisor drove the van and another coworker was ridi ng in the passenger seat. Another set of coworkers followed behind the van in a truck to retrieve the removed decorations. Once the crew made the turn onto Dear born Street, some coworkers noticed the elevated bucket on the van began to rise and almost hit a power line. The supervisor and driver of the van did not notic e the bucket had elevated. As the van passed under a tree, Employee #1 ducked do wn barely missing the branch, but the branch came in contact with the bucket. Th e rear portion of the bucket shattered, and Employee #1 fell out of the bucket o nto the grass on the shoulder of the road. The injuries were blunt force trauma to torso, head, and neck. Employee #1 was killed.

Keywords:blunt force trauma, bucket , fall protection, head, lift bucket, neck, road, torso, tree