Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310351606 - Charles Kendrick

Inspection Information - Office: Indiana Department Of Labor

Investigation Summary

On February 26, 2007, a subcontractor and his two employees were installing a steel I-beam, and steel columns, in the middle of a building and running the length of the building. The building was a one-story, 35-ft wide, 165-ft long wood post building. Three forklifts and operators working for the company that owned the building were assisting in the erection of the steel. They bolted two 26-ft 7-in. long, by 13.75-in., by 5-in. I-beams together. Two of the forklifts elevated the beam to where it was to be installed. As they held the beam in place, the subcontractor employees positioned and erected three 16-ft long, 6-in. by 6-in. columns vertically (one at a time). This was done manually. As they held the columns in place their employer bolted the beam to the columns. The subcontract employer did this while standing on a pallet on the forks of the third fork lift. One of the two forklifts used to elevate the steel was inadequate. It did not have enough reach to elevate the beam to the 16-ft high area. The operator had hoisted the beam on the back-rail rather than on the forks. After the third column was bolted to the beam, the other forklift left its position. The operator was going after some bracing. The steel was now being held in position only by the one forklift that had the beam resting on its back-rail. The concrete foundations for the columns had not been poured and no anchor pins or leveling devices had been installed. The beam slipped off the back-rail of the forklift and fell over onto the concrete floor. The beam struck and crushed Employee #1, an employee of the subcontractor. Employee #1 was killed.

Keywords: STEEL BEAM, STEEL COLUMN, CRUSHED, INDUSTRIAL TRUCK, STRUCK BY, FALLING OBJECT, UNSTABLE LOAD, UNSTABLE POSITION