Inspection Detail

Inspection: 304392228 - Air-Way Communications

Inspection Information - Office: Austin Area Office

Inspection Nr: 304392228

Report ID: 0625400

Date Opened: 09/13/2002

Site Address:
Air-Way Communications
Hwy 1050
Uvalde, TX 78801

Mailing Address:
2822 Countiss St, Corpus Christi, TX 78410

Union Status: NonUnion

SIC:1731

NAICS: 0

Inspection Type: Accident

Scope: Partial

Advanced Notice: Y

Ownership: Private

Safety/Health: Safety

Close Conference: 09/16/2002

Planning Guide: Safety-Construction

Emphasis: L:Fall, S:Construction

Case Closed: 09/28/2004

Related Activity
Type	Activity Nr	Safety	Health
Accident	100602101

Violation Summary
Violations/Penalties	Serious	Willful	Repeat	Other	Unclass	Total
Initial Violations	2			1		3
Current Violations	2			1		3
Initial Penalty	$4,200	$0	$0	$1,500	$0	$5,700
Current Penalty	$4,200	$0	$0	$1,500	$0	$5,700
FTA Penalty	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0

Violation Items
#	Citation ID	Citation Type	Standard Cited	Issuance Date	Abatement Due Date	Current Penalty	Initial Penalty	FTA Penalty	Latest Event
1.	01001	Serious	5A0001	09/26/2002	11/14/2002	$2,100	$2,100	$0	-
2.	01002	Serious	19260021 B02	09/26/2002	10/23/2002	$2,100	$2,100	$0	-
3.	02001	Other	19040008	09/26/2002	10/02/2002	$1,500	$1,500	$0	-

Investigation Summary

Investigation Nr: 200602217

Event: 09/12/2002

Employee is killed in fall from communication tower

At approximately 2:30 p.m. on September 12, 2002, Employee #1 was supervising a four-man crew that was erecting antennas and coaxial cable on a 400 ft communications tower. After eating lunch, Employee #1 told a coworker that he wanted to be winched up the tower rather than climb the ladder. In addition to hoisting the supervisor, the crew was lifting a coaxial cable that would have been 480 ft long when raised to the top of the tower. The new 0.5-in. poly-dac rope used to winch up Employee #1 and the cable failed when they were at a height of approximately 340 ft. Employee #1 fell approximately 50 ft before bouncing off part of the structure. His fall stopped at the 290 ft level, and the coworkers could see that he had sustained severe head injuries from the impact and that he was probably dead. Emergency Services responded and lowered Employee #1's body to the ground. He was declared dead at the scene by a Justice of the Peace. The rope line was marked on the reel as having a working strength of 417 lb. The weight on the load line at the top of the tower would have been 655 lb, 480 lb for the cable plus 175 lb for Employee #1. This resulted in an overload of 238 lb more than the line was rated to withstand.

Keywords: HEAD, COMMUNICATION TOWER, TELECOM WORK, ROPE, WORK RULES, OVERLOADED, STRUCK AGAINST, CONSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT FAILURE, FALL

Investigated Inspection
#	Inspection	Age	Sex	Degree of Injury	Nature of Injury	Occupation
1	304392228			Fatality	Fracture	Occupation not reported

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