Inspection Detail

Inspection: 309839777 - Much-Meyer Construction Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Appleton Area Office

Investigation Summary

On August 27, 2007, Employee #1 and his father, the company owner, were in a small, single-axle dump truck, hauling concrete rubble from a construction job to a disposal site at an old quarry. It had rained recently, so the father went to the quarry to find out if the dumping area was passable for driving. He found that a certain area of the normal dumping spot was fine to use and he instructed his son to dump the load and return to the worksite. When he arrived at the quarry, Employee #1 was given verbal directions by the scale operator to dump the load in a seldom-used, secondary dumping area because of the mud at the main dumping area. After about 30 minutes, the scale operator became concerned when the truck did not come back through the scale area. A coworker at the quarry searched the dump area, but did not find the truck. The scale operator thought that the driver left without checking in, or had driven out through an uncontrolled, side access road. The father also became concerned when his son failed to return from the quarry, and he went to investigate. Employee #1's father went right to the main dump area, and did not check in at the scale. He did not find the truck, but he did find a pile of rubble that he thought might have been the one dumped by his son. Employee #1's father believed his son had left the quarry site, and he didn't contact quarry management until the next day. That night, Employee #1's parents filed a missing person report with the local authorities. The next morning, workers at the quarry, alerted about the missing man, searched the dump area again. Two coworkers noticed some tracks leading to another area of the quarry that was not used for dumping and which saw little activity. They thought they saw signs that a truck might have gone over the edge into the quarry, and oil in the quarry water. They told the management, whho then notified authorities and the family. The truck and Employee #1, who was not buckled by the safety belt, were found in the water. The truck ignition was on, the transmission was in neutral, the parking brake was not set, the driver's window was open, the gate release lever had not been activitated, and the power take-off had not been engaged. There was also damage to the passenger's side, underneath the rear of the truck, near the fuel tank and running board. The truck had been driven past the secondary dump site to the location of the accident. It apparently had pulled close to the steep edge of the quarry, slipped backward over the edge, and fell 8 ft to 10 ft through the air into 15 ft to 20 ft deep water. There was a spot at the edge of the quarry where it appeared that the edge may have sloughed off or broken that was in line with tire tracks leading into the quarry. Employee #1 had not been at the quarry recently, but had dumped here many times in the past, according to both quarry managers and the family. The secondary dumping area was much smaller and on the opposite side of the quarry from the regular dumping area. Employee #1 had been given only verbal directions and there were no road signs along the way giving additional guidance. Drivers were expected to dump away from the edge, and a front-end loader operator would push the piles into the quarry. There were piles at the secondary location, but none at the place where the truck was thought to have gone into the quarry, as this was not a designated dumping area. The father of Employee #1 had dumped at this quarry an estimated 30 to 40 times in the past without ever having to dump in the secondary area, and he did not think his son had ever dumped there either.

Keywords: EMBANKMENT, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, DRIVER, DUMP TRUCK, UNSTABLE SOIL, DROWN, LOST CONTROL, BACKING UP, WATER