Inspection Detail

Inspection: 301996716 - Shaw Constructors Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Baton Rouge Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:15 a.m. on August 9, 1999, Employee #1 and two coworkers were loading fabricated pipes onto a flatbed trailer truck. Employee #1 and one coworker were standing on the trailer toward the tractor cab, while the other coworker was at the rear of the trailer. At the time of the accident, an 18-ton Grove truck crane was being used to load a 700 lb piece of fabricated pipe onto the bed. While the two coworkers were spotting the pipe, Employee 31 began to move away from the load by walking on pipes near the edge of the trailer. He was walking on some pipe joints when he slipped and fell 5 ft off the trailer, landing on his face. As he fell, a schedule 120, 12 ft 7 in. long by 2 1/2 in. (inner diameter) pipe joint weighing 506 lb became dislodged and fell across his back. Employee #1 suffered internal injuries and died at the scene. There were no pipe stops in place along the side of the rented truck trailer, although there were slots for them. The company commonly used pipe stops on the sides of its truck trailers to keep loads from shifting or falling during transport.

Keywords: LOADING, UNSECURED, WORK RULES, CRUSHED, FALL, STRUCK BY, FALLING OBJECT, FLATBED TRUCK, UNSTABLE POSITION