Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300778909 - Park Steel Co

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 11:00 a.m. on February 22, 2002, Employee #1, the plant manager for Park Steel Co., a steel fabrication firm in Compton, CA, was performing electrical work on a bridge crane. He had observed an exposed busbar on the No. 2 overhead crane. Although the plant manager had no experience or knowledge of electrical work, he did not call an electrician in the interest of time. Instead, he decided to apply insulating black electrical tape to the exposed busbar himself. The exposed bus bar was located approximately 8 ft from the elevated platform used to service the crane. In order to reach the busbar, he brought a metal chair to stand on, asking Employee #2 to hold the chair so that it would not tip over while Employee #1 was insulating the busbar. While applying the black electrical tape to the exposed busbar, he contacted the energized bar which "grabbed" him and did not "let go". Employee #2 realized what was happening and so grabbed the employee by the waist with both arms and pulled him off. He could not support the weight of Employee #1, so Employee #1 approximately 11 ft 3.5 in. through an opening between a beam, located approximately 44 in. above the platform, and the platform floor. Emergency medical services were called, and Employee #1 was transported to Martin Luther King Hospital, where he was treated for his injuries and released five days later. The injuries to Employee #1 were a fractured pelvis, fractured coccyx, and dislocated right shoulder. Employee #2 received a minor burn on his left index finger. The casual factor leading to the accident was that Employee #1 was working in an energized system without following the procedures outlined in T.8 CCR 2320.2. Also, there were inadequate guardrails, allowing Employee #1 to fall off from the platform. Serious injuries would not have been sustained if there had been no fall from the platform through the opening between the beam and the platform floor.

Keywords: FRACTURE, SHOULDER, STEEL, WORK RULES, INEXPERIENCE, DISLOCATED, PELVIS, FALL, CRANE