Inspection Detail

Inspection: 17743444 - Atlas Assembly, Division Of Crawford Manufacturing

Inspection Information - Office: Buffalo Area Office

Investigation Summary

Four employees were pushing a stack of lumber (two bundles high) from a transfer car into a kiln. The stack was sitting on three dollies, which in turn were sitting on three transfer car rails. The rails on the transfer car are supposed to line up with the kiln rails. The equipment, however, was faulty and the rails did not line up properly. The employees placed a hydraulic bottle jack under each end of the transfer car and jacked it up until the rails were aligned. The four employees stood behind the transfer car and pushed the stack of lumber off the transfer car and onto the kiln rails. Most of the lumber was on the kiln rails when the rear wheels on the dollies hung up on a gap between the transfer car rails and the kiln rails. At this point, the rear wheels of the dollies were past the plane of the bottle jacks. The transfer car tipped toward the kiln, causing the north end bottle jack to topple. The transfer car then tipped back and off its tracks, causing the bundles of lumber to fall backward onto Employees #1 and #2. Employee #1 died. Employee #2 was severely injured. The other two employees dived out of the way.

Keywords: HYDRAULIC JACK, INADEQUATE MAINT, RAIL, LUMBER, STRUCK BY, FALLING OBJECT