Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300076684 - Davis Enterprises, Inc. Of Salisbury

Inspection Information - Office: Nc Department Of Labor - Winston-Salem

Investigation Summary

At approximately 8:00 a.m. on April 10, 1997, Employee #1 walked out to the driveway between the steel shed and the lumber shed to talk to a coworker who was operating a skid-steer loader, model 675-B. The coworker was loading the last of four aluminum bales onto the company truck when Employee #1 approached him from the right and told him he needed to replace a missing lug nut on the loader's right rear wheel. According to the coworker, Employee #1 replaced the missing nut and tightened it. He then said "I'm going to get my gloves," which were in the cab where he had left them the day before. The coworker remained in the driver's seat while Employee #1 reached into the cab with his right hand and arm and grabbed his gloves off the seat. As he withdrew his arm, his coat, hand, or arm contacted the right drive-control lever and pulled it forward. This made the loader advance and spin to the left, knocking Employee #1 off-balance and causing him to fall between the vehicle's right front tire and frame. The loader's turning action then pulled his head and upper right shoulder between the tire and frame, where they became wedged. The right side of Employee #1's face and skull were crushed, as were his upper right extremities. His coworker stayed in the cab and called for help. When the company president arrived, he realized Employee #1 was lodged in place and ordered the coworker to back up. Doing this caused the tire to counter-rotate and free Employee. Another coworker and the president placed him on the ground near the loader. In approximately 12 minutes, the EMS arrived. They found Employee #1 bleeding from his mouth and nose, and the right side of his face and mouth severely deformed; he had no pulse. Employee #1 was transported to Rowan Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 9:02 a.m. There were no direct witnesses to the accident, and the vision of the coworker in the loader cab had been obstructed by the cage frame and by the boom of the vehicle. OSHA's safety compliance officer concluded that the primary causes of the accident were the employer's failure to sufficiently train the operators of the Skid Steer, and the employer's failure to provide the operators with sufficient information on its safe operation, such as an owner's manual.

Keywords: HEAD, SHOULDER, WORK RULES, EQUIPMENT OPERATOR, CAUGHT BETWEEN, CRUSHED, FALL, LOADER, LOST BALANCE, UNTRAINED