Inspection Detail

Inspection: 309931392 - Ferrise & Son Excavating Co.

Inspection Information - Office: Cleveland Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 8:45 a.m. on April 17, 2006, Employee #1, an owner of a construction company, was operating a Ford backhoe, Model Number 655E. He parked the forklift outside the construction site he was to work, leaving its back bucket protruding about 1 foot into the oncoming lane of traffic, in order to open a gate for access. Then, he dismounted the backhoe and opened the gate to the construction site. As he was returning to the backhoe, a vehicle that was traveling 35mph struck the back bucket of the backhoe. This caused the backhoe to flip over, pinning Employee #1 under the tire section of the backhoe. The backhoe was lifted off of Employee #1 using air bags and a large tow truck. Employee #1 was taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries. The accident investigation revealed that the motorist had sufficient room to avoid hitting the backhoe bucket and remain in his traffic lane.

Keywords: PINNED, EQUIPMENT OPERATOR, CONSTRUCTION, CAUGHT BETWEEN, CRUSHED, STRUCK BY, BACKHOE, MOTOR VEHICLE, OVERTURN