Inspection Detail

Inspection: 303988380 - Dmw Of Monticello, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Jacksonville Area Office

Investigation Summary

On March 27, 2002, an employee was operating a John Deere Model 544E front end loader to clear a road into a wooded area so that logging trucks could gain access to the area where trees were to be cut. The operator was backfilling stump holes when Employee #1 arrived at the site. Employee #1 was the president and owner of the company. They noted that the loader was leaking hydraulic fluids. The previous week, the loader had been in the shop where an attempt was made to repair the leak to the hydraulic system of the bucket arms. Employee #1 instructed the operator to place the bucket of the loader onto a stump, so that they could work on the leaking system. The operator placed the bucket on a stump, and left the loader to assist Employee #1, the owner. The operator left the loader in neutral, and did not set the parking brake. They disconnected the hydraulic lines, and removed a cylinder. Employee #1 called his foreman at the shop to come to the site to help him take the cylinder in to be repaired. The operator was sent to another location to do another task, leaving Employee #1 alone. When the foreman arrived at the site about an hour later, he discovered that Employee #1 had been crushed between the arm of the bucket and the frame of the body of the loader. Apparently, Employee #1 had returned to the loader to do additional work on the hydraulic system, and the bucket had fallen from the stump, pinning Employee #1. The cause of death was listed as a severed brain stem trauma.

Keywords: LEAK, FRONT END LOADER, HYDRAULIC CYLINDER, CAUGHT BETWEEN, LACERATION, BRAIN