Inspection Detail

Inspection: 305394751 - Ww Clyde & Co

Inspection Information - Office: Utah Division Of Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

On June 4, 2002, workers were assembling 8-inch HDPE pipe sections that would be rolled into an excavation and buried. The pipe ultimately will be a sewer line. Each section of pipe is about 20-feet long. A machine is used that cuts the abutting ends of the two pieces of plastic pipe, heats the ends to a predetermined temperature, then pushes the two ends together, effectively welding them together. The length of pipe is then pulled with a pickup truck down the road to align the end of the pipe in the machine, so that the next section can be attached. Each new section of pipe is lifted using a backhoe and a fiber sling rigged as a choker. At the time of the accident, they were using one pile of dirt toward the middle of the new section of pipe to help support the pipe at the same height as the machine that connects it to the rest of the pipe. Employee #1 sustained a broken right wrist and arm when the pipe fell and struck him.

Keywords: FRACTURE, PIPE, STRUCK BY, ARM, SLING, BACKHOE, CHOKER, WRIST