Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300506110 - Hauck - Cape Cod Concrete Pumping, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Springfield Area Office

Investigation Summary

On March 16, 1999, Employee #1, of Goya Foods, Inc., Webster, MA, was leaning against a parked cement mixer truck stationed approximately 10 to 12 ft from the rear of a trailer-mounted concrete pump. His back was facing the rear of the cement pump hopper. Prior to Employee #1 going to the side of the cement mixer truck, he had started the engine of the truck with the attached concrete pump and left it running. A coworker, who was talking to a fellow employee, was standing on the driver's side of the cab of this truck. He turned his head and saw that the vehicle was moving backward. At first he thought that someone was backing up the truck and that it as going to hit the side of the parked cement mixer truck; when he looked in the cab of the truck, however, he realized it was unmanned. The coworker saw Employee #1 leaning against the cement mixer truck and yelled for him to get out of the way. The coworker then jumped into the cab of the moving truck, moved it into first gear, brought the truck forward toward the side of the building, and secured the parking brake. He rushed to the rear of the trailer and saw Employee #1 lying on the ground with blood coming out of his mouth. He had been struck in the back by the hopper section of the cement pump and pinned against the passenger side of the cement mixer truck. Employee #1 was transported to the UMass Medical Center, where he died the next morning from internal injuries. The coworker stated that the truck was in neutral and neither the parking brake nor the emergency brake had been set. On the day of the accident, coworkers in the area observed that Employee #1 looked visibly ill with what appeared to be a bad cold.

Keywords: VEHICLE IN GEAR, BRAKE, PINNED, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, CAUGHT BETWEEN, TRUCK, STRUCK BY, UNMANNED, INATTENTION