Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310478581 - Big O Refuse

Inspection Information - Office: Columbus Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 7:50 a.m. on April 27, 2007, Employee #1 was working for a waste removal firm, one that gathered the contents of dumpsters and hauled them off. The firm's reported SIC is 4212, that of a local trucking firm. Employee #1 had been employed with the company for 15 years. He was working alone at the time of the accident, and there were no witnesses to report when or why the accident happened. Employee #1 left company headquarters at approximately 6:45 a.m. to pick up cardboard for recycling. He backed up his rear-loading Heil packer body trash truck to a 6-cubic yard dumpster, attached a hoist cable from the truck to the dumpster, and lifted the dumpster so that it would dump its load of cardboard into the rear hopper of the trash truck. He was unloading the trash bin into his truck, when he was pinned between the truck and the dumpster. A person driving by the site noticed Employee #1 slumped over between the dumpster and the hopper of the trash truck and called the authorities. Employee #1 had been killed, with his death due to asphyxia. When the fire department medics arrived at the scene, they noted that the end of the dumpster was elevated in the air, with the winch cable attached to the truck. Employee #1's body was upright in the truck's hopper, with the upper portion of his body leaning out as if he were attempting to climb out. The winch controls were on the side of the truck where Employee #1 seemed to be trying to climb out. Possibly, while climbing out, he accidently tripped the control for the winch, which would have pinned him between the side of the hopper and the dumpster. No problems were noted with the winch controls after the accident. An investigation did not reveal any reason for Employee #1 to climb into the hopper of the truck or what he would have been doing when he got caught between the dumpster and the side of the truck.

Keywords: GARBAGE TRUCK, ASPHYXIATED, PINNED, CONTROL LEVER, DUMPSTER, CAUGHT BETWEEN, DUMPER, MECH MAT HANDLING, WINCH, TRUCK DRIVER