Inspection Detail

Inspection: 303895825 - Ferguson Trenching Co Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation Division Of Labor And Industry Maryland Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

On April 5, 2001, employees working for Ferguson Trenching Co., Inc. were standing in between an outside wall and a stack of 20 scaffold tubular welded end frames that were stored in an almost vertical position 4 to 5 feet from the wall. The stack was against two scaffold crossbraces that were in the closed position. One end of the brace was pined to the normal top position (on both upright tubes) where the crossbraces were attached to the end frame, near the load-bearing tubes. The opposite ends of the brace were wedged into the corner of the floor and the bottom of the block wall in between dock doors E and F. Employee #1 and a coworker were exposed to the unsafe workspace over an hours' period. The employees went into the area between the wall and the stick to help push and pull two bundles of four 4/0 electric cables up into electrical boxes located between the two dock doors. Employee #1 used a 10- by 15-foot-long piece of 500 MCM cable as a ramming tool to remove the dirt and mud from the conduits. Neither of the employees saw the piece of 500 MCM cable hit against one of the crossbraces or the attached upright. The stack became dislodged and collapsed towards the wall-striking Employee #1 on the back of his head knocking off his hard hat and breaking his safety glasses at the right earpiece. The impact caused Employee #1 to fall, hitting the bottom shelf of the electrical box. Employee #1 received a cut on the back of his head and around the side of his left eye causing the eye to be dislocated. All 20 of the end frames fell, trapping Employee #1 underneath the first eight. The coworker picked up the end of the frames so that Employee #1 could crawl out toward door F, which was the nearest door. Employee #1 crawled out to wait for the ambulance. The coworker set down the end frames and went back to assist Employee #1 and to move him to a safe area.

Keywords: HEAD, HARD HAT, EAR, FALL, SAFE, SCAFFOLD, TUBULAR SCAFFOLD