Inspection Detail

Inspection: 301806691 - Kauffman Group Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Va-E-Manassas (Regional Office)- Safety 0355114

Investigation Summary

At 9:10 a.m. on June 30, 1999, Employee #1 and a coworker were repairing a soft spot in the street. The blacktop had been removed and stone was being added to give the area a more solid base. Employee #1 was adjusting the tail gate chains at the rear of his Ford F-series dump truck #46 to control the flow of stone when he raised the bed to spread the stone. A coworker was using a Bobcat skid-steer loader, model 863C, to spread the stone that had already been dumped. The Bobcat operator saw Employee #1's vehicle parked upon the blacktop, immediately south of the area where he was spreading stone. Employee #1 then backed his vehicle into the excavated area behind where the Bobcat was working, parked it, and was apparently facing the rear of the truck making the tailgate chain adjustments when he was pinned between the rear of the Bobcat and the bottom edge of the dump truck bed. He suffered severe internal crushing injuries to his midsection and was killed. The back-up alarms on both vehicles were fully functional. The main causal factor appears to have been Employee #1's failure to heed the Bobcat's back-up alarm as the vehicle approached him.

Keywords: PINNED, CONSTRUCTION, CAUGHT BETWEEN, CRUSHED, DUMP TRUCK, LOADER, BACKING UP, DUMP TRUCK BED, INATTENTION