Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1672655.015 - Equix Energy Services, Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Mobile Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 11:30 a.m. on May 23, 2023, an employee working for a natural gas distribution company was operating a John Deere 35G excavator. The employee was working alongside a coworker who was operating a John Deere 60G excavator. The employee and coworker were working on a hillside moving pipe to be installed. The employee was operating the excavator on a roughly 16-degree grade with his tracks perpendicular to the pipe being moved. The employee was using his excavator to hold the piping off the ground so it wouldn't scrape. The coworker was pulling the pipe with his excavator when the boom arm of the employee's excavator reached its limit for the angle it could swing. After the employee couldn't swing the arm any further, the coworker still continued to pull the pipe. This caused the employee's excavator to tip and fall over onto the employee. The employee was killed when he was crushed by the excavator.

Keywords: Abdomen, Caught Between, Chest, Construction, Construction vehicle, Crushed, Driving, Excavator, Falling Object, Hill, Insufficient Supervision, Lack of Work Procedures, Material Handling, Motor Vehicle, Pipe, Roll-Over, Slope, Training