Inspection Detail

Inspection: 302619770 - Hosea O. Weaver & Sons, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Mobile Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:49 a.m. on July 21, 2000, Employee #1 was working with the operator of a Caterpillar 12G motor grader on the northbound lane of Highway 43 near the entrance to the Ipsco Steel Mill in Axis, AL. They were grading and preparing the shoulder for sodding. Employee #1 was to the left (east) of the grader, working on the ground between it and a ditch parallel to the road. Dump trucks hauled dirt to the site and dumped it in piles on the shoulder of the road. The grader operator would push the dirt south, toward the Ipsco entrance, then drag it back while backing north. After the grader pushed forward past Employee #1, he would go out on the graded soil to pick out any roots that came to the surface. He would then move over to the side as the grader backed up. According to the grader operator, there were not many limbs in the soil, so Employee #1 did not have to go out onto the graded soil every time the motor passed. During this operation, Employee #1 was struck and killed by the grader as it backed up. The only witness to the accident was the vice president of another company, who had come to the Ipsco site to check on some metering equipment and missed the turn into the plant. He had pulled off the northbound lane about 100 ft north of where the motor grader was operating. when he saw Employee #1 stumble backward and the grader's left rear tire strike him. Employee #1's left leg went up in the air and he seemed to be trying to roll out of the way. Employee #1 was killed. The grader operator had 47 years of experience operating motor graders and other heavy equipment; he and Employee #1 had worked together for eight months before the accident.

Keywords: GRADER, HIGHWAY, CONSTRUCTION, EARTHMOVING EQUIP, STRUCK BY, HIGHWAY SHOULDER, BACKING UP, INATTENTION