Inspection Detail

Inspection: 307164780 - Allied Steel Co

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 12:45 a.m. on April 27, 2005, Employee #1, a mechanical engineer with 17 years of experience in the trade as a layout man, was working with his crew to fabricate a structural steel beam to be used in the construction of a bridge. The beam was to be made out of 32 steel I- beams. Employee #1 and his crew, with the use of a Craneveyor overhead crane, positioned a top beam on four tack-weld plates (two tack-welds on each plate) in order to position the beam in place for welding. During this process, the crane holding the I-beam had to be removed to yield pass to another crane, leaving the I-beam resting on the four tack-weld plates only. Employee #1 then began measuring the working points to determine if it was square, while a coworker held the tape measure at one end. Employee #1 was measuring diagonally when the beam fell and struck his left arm. Emergency services were contacted and the employee was transported to California Hospital, where he was hospitalized and treated for open fractures to the radius ulna and first metacarpal on his left arm. The accident investigation revealed that the leading cause of the accident was that the steel I-beam was not properly secured prior to being released from the crane.

Keywords: FRACTURE, STEEL BEAM, UNSECURED, CONSTRUCTION, CAUGHT BETWEEN, STRUCK BY, ARM, BRIDGE, FALLING OBJECT, CRANE