Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310356308 - Power Transmission Technologies Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Cleveland Area Office

Investigation Summary

On August 15, 2006, Employee #1 was disassembling a two-piece test stand located in the employer's test laboratory. The stand was designed by the employer's engineers, fabricated by another company, and assembled at the facility by the employer's technicians. The stand was 6 ft tall and made of I-beam steel, and it housed brakes, clutches and other components that were tested. The two-piece stand had a smaller stand with a drive apparatus mounted on it and a large stand that was used to store the parts being examined. The drive apparatus was a Dynamatic two-piece unit, with the motor having Model Number 040-643653-0092 and the variable speed drive having Model Number OAT-320500-4142. The height of the motor and the smaller test stand was approximately 3 ft. The stands were held together by bolts installed from the front and rear of the smaller stand and into the side of the frame of the larger stand. All of the equipment being tested was removed from the larger stand before the employee began to dismantle the two piece set. No blocking or cribbing was in place under the drive apparatus to prevent it from tipping over. After removing the bolts on the rear of the smaller stand, the employee placed himself to the front to remove the remaining bolts. He kneeled and began removing the bolts, when the drive apparatus tipped over and fell on him. The device pinned the employee against part of the stand frame, a supporting base pallet and the floor. There were no workers present in the test laboratory while the employee was performing his work. At about 1:00 p.m., a coworker went to the test lab to find a tool for work he was doing elsewhere in the facility, when he found Employee #1 lifeless at the incident scene.

Keywords: HEAD, BRAKE, CLUTCH, LOCKOUT, TEST EQUIPMENT, CRUSHED, AUTOMOBILE, BOLT, TESTING LAB, FALLING OBJECT