Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310141627 - Moisture Proof & Masonry, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation Division Of Labor And Industry Maryland Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

On October 26, 2006, Moisture Proof and Masonry had finished all of their work at the job site, where a new day care center was being constructed on the campus of Towson University. They had done all of the brick and block work. The company assigned the employee and a coworker to work together. They took materials and equipment to a work site in South Baltimore. From there, they traveled to the day care center job on Auburn Drive in Towson arriving there at approximately 8:45 a.m. Neither the employee nor the coworker was in charge of the other as they were there to clean up any of their company's debris and to pick up any equipment and materials and place them on the company truck. A Gradall Material Lift, Number 534D-9, was on site and was to be used to pick up the various items. The employee went to the Gradall Lift and conducted a safety check to make sure it was OK to operate which it was. He started the Gradall so it could warm up. Once the loader was warmed up, he used it to load a fuel tank, a gang box, and a partial cube of cement onto the truck. The employee was informed that there was a partial pallet of old cement and some other debris in the rear of the building that needed to be picked up and placed in a dumpster. The employee asked the superintendent for the general contractor what the best route would be to get the Gradall to the rear of the building. He was told to use the path on the north side of the building that traveled along Auburn Drive. The south side of the building was not passable. The employee shut the Gradall off and walked the path he would be traveling to the rear of the building. While he walked the path he moved any debris and other items that would have been in his way. The path had been graded and compacted but did have some ruts created by other vehicles; was soft from the recent rains and was not flat. A slope existed between the edge of the path and Auburn Drive. The slope was estimated to be 3 to 8 feet. There was a wire mesh fence at the base of the slope. It was a tight area to travel through with the path being 10 feet wide and the Gradall being 8 feet wide. Both, the employee and the coworker walked to the rear of the building and picked up all of the paper trash. The employee returned to the loader and started it back up. He stated that he had connected his seat belt and was not wearing a hard hat. He stated that he thought he was traveling within one foot of the building. He traveled to the northeast corner of the building. He turned the steering wheel so the front wheels were heading to the right as he began to go up a slight incline. As soon as he turned the steering wheel which turns the rear wheels, the employee stated that he felt something strange and he knew the loader was going to turn over. He stated he believes he was going just two miles per hour. As the loader was turning over and down the sloped embankment towards the fence and Auburn Drive, he thought the loader would only turn over one time but it did not. The loader hit the ground and then turned over a second time. When it stopped the employee's seat was up in the air. The employee stated that as he felt the loader start to turn over he pulled on the Tilt Lever which is used to level the vehicle. Apparently it was maxed all of the way out because it did not stop the loader from turning over. The front forks were up off of the ground about four feet and there was no load on them. The employee stated that he thinks that while the loader was turning over; probably during the second flip that he must have unlatched his seat belt. He offered no reason why he chose to do this. When the loader hit the ground a second time the impact jarred him loose from his grip on the steering wheel. He was hanging in the seat sideways or almost upside down; and with the seat belt unlatched he fell down towards the glass cab windows. He fell through the glass and landed on the ground. The impact of hitting the glass hurt his head but he

Keywords: HEAD, LACERATION, FALL, ELEVATOR, OVERTURN