Inspection Detail

Inspection: 302451141 - City Of Lancaster- Public Works

Inspection Information - Office: Sc Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation

Investigation Summary

Employees #1 through #3, all inmates on work release, and Employees #4 through #6, who worked for the city's public works department, were filling a utility cut with asphalt dispensed by a Pro-Patch asphalt patcher truck. When the asphalt level dropped too low inside the hopper, the job supervisor instructed Employee #1 to climb into the hopper and scrape or shovel asphalt from the sides down into the bottom. There was a rotating agitator at the bottom of the hopper that dispersed the asphalt to an auger that drove it out the chute. The truck's engine remained idling while Employee #2 disengaged the agitator control lever at the rear of the vehicle. After Employee #1 knocked the asphalt from the sides, Employee #2 asked and was told by Employee #1 that he was clear. When Employee #2 re-engaged the control, Employee #1's left leg became caught and entangled around the moving agitator. Employee #3, the driver, jumped out of the truck, saw what happened, and shut off the power while the supervisor called 911. The city fire department and county EMS responded. Employee #4, the fire chief, attempted to rescue Employee #1 by cutting the agitator with an oxygen/acetylene torch. By this time, Employee #1's leg was starting to be burned by the heat from the truck (which kept the asphalt warm and workable). Employee #5 instructed a coworker to bring over a backhoe and, using a chain attached to the bucket, lift the agitator off Employee #1's leg. A mistake at the controls of the backhoe caused the bucket to drop suddenly and strike, directly or indirectly, Employees #2 through #6; they sustained various sprains and strains, none of which required hospitalization. Some of those injured and several other rescuers continued working until they freed Employee #1. He was flown to the Augusta Burn Center with third-degree burns and multiple fractures to his left leg, which had to be surgically amputated below the knee.

Keywords: BURN, FRACTURE, ROTATING PARTS, WORK RULES, HOT ASPHALT, ENTANGLED, COMMUNICATION, HOPPER, LEG