Inspection Detail

Inspection: 303251144 - John C. Holland Enterprises

Inspection Information - Office: Va-E-Norfolk (Regional Office) - Safety 0355112

Investigation Summary

At 1:30 p.m. on March 10, 2000, Employee #1 and a coworker were attempting to install wooden support blocks underneath the belly pan of a bulldozer. The two workers lifted a wooden support beam, planning to insert it on top of two other beams that were already in place. Employee #1, who was closer to the bulldozer, had straddled the beam and was crouched over it, with his head and shoulders under the bulldozer's carriage. Both workers were shoving the beam into place when Employee #1 lost his balance and fell forward on top of the beam as it moved. He became wedged between the beam and the belly of the dozer and suffered crushing injuries to his chest wall at the level of his sternum that caused him severe difficulty breathing. The coworker managed to extract Employee #1 and call for help. Emergency Services arrived at the scene within approximately 10 minutes, but Employee #1 had already died.

Keywords: BEAM, CHEST, RESPIRATORY, INSTALLING, WORK RULES, CAUGHT BETWEEN, CRUSHED, MANUAL MAT HANDLING, BULLDOZER, LOST BALANCE