Inspection Detail

Inspection: 308572585 - Otto Baum Co., Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Peoria Area Office

Investigation Summary

On June 21, 2006, Employee #1 was part of a crew of five men, including Employee #2, the foreman, that were preparing to set-up a pile driver at a job site. The crane had been unloaded and assembled when it began to rain. The crew stopped working while it rained and waited for the truck to arrive with the pile driver. By the time the truck arrived, the rain had stopped and the crew started to unload the pile driver. In the process of removing the pile driver hammer head from the trailer bed, the hoist line of the crane either contacted a 7,600-kilovolt overhead power line or the electricity jumped an undetermined distance to the hoist line. Two employees were standing on the bed of the trailer and the foreman was leaning with his hands on the trailer. Employee #1 pulled the chain slings toward the truck end of the trailer to rig the hammer head. The hammer head, sitting on the trailer, was under and on the opposite of the power line. This is when the crane's hoist line became charged. Employee #1 had the chain slings in his hand and was thrown off the side of the truck. The foreman received am electric shock until the crane operator boomed the crane up and back, de-energizing the hoist line. Employee #1 suffered two fractured ribs and a fractured collar bone; the foreman suffered a strained neck and upper back muscles. Both were hospitalized.

Keywords: CLEARANCE, ELECTRIC ARC, OVERHEAD POWER LINE, CRANE BOOM, WORK RULES, STRUCK AGAINST, CONSTRUCTION, ELECTRIC SHOCK, OFF LOADING, CRANE