Inspection Detail

Inspection: 18816934 - Wicomico Construction Company

Inspection Information - Office: Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation Division Of Labor And Industry Maryland Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

On August 21, 1987, Employee #1 and a coworker were working at a sewage treatment plant construction site, removing the wooden braces that held the concrete columns of an aeration tank's perimeter walls. Employee #1 would pry a board off the perimeter wall and wait for the coworker to unfasten the brace at the column, after which the coworker would hand the brace to Employee #1. Employee #1 would then walk down the 24 in. wide perimeter wall and deposit the brace approximately 70 ft away. They had been performing this job for over an hour when Employee #1 pried lose his end of a particular 2 by 6 brace that was approximately 16 ft long and extended over the perimeter wall by as much as 4 ft. The coworker, working from a mobile scaffold platform, unfastened his end of the brace and tucked his hammer into his carpenter's belt. Before he could hand over the brace, Employee #1 began pulling the board toward himself. The weight of the board proved to be too much for Employee #1 to handle and he let the brace fall. As it fell, the perimeter wall acted as a fulcrum and the portion of the brace that extended beyond the wall struck Employee #1, causing him to lose his balance and fall approximately 16 ft to the concrete floor. Employee #1 was hospitalized for his injuries. There was never any fall protection provided for Employee #1, and he had never been trained to recognize the potential hazards, such as falls, related to the profession.

Keywords: DISMANTLING, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, STRUCK BY, LOST BALANCE, UNTRAINED