Inspection Detail

Inspection: 312148075 - Central Florida Equipment Rentals Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Fort Lauderdale Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 1:35 p.m. on July 22, 2008, Employee #1, a heavy equipment operator, drowned when the articulating truck he was operating fell into a retention pond. Employee #1 was operating a 9-foot 5-inches wide articulating truck on a 12-foot 4-inch wide berm which ran adjacent to the retention pond. Employee #1 had been with the company about 18 years and was considered by his foreman to be an experienced heavy equipment operator. At the time of the accident, the employer was in the process of raising the berm by 6 inches by using the articulating truck to dump material, which was then bulldozed to level it, and then a mobile compactor was used to compact it in place. The employer had four employees on site; three operating the different pieces of equipment and a foreman. The weather was sunny and clear. The work was being conducted at the Miami- Dade Water and Sewer Department construction of a new waste water treatment plant in Homestead, Florida. The 49,075 pound Caterpillar Model 725 articulating truck was travelling on a western direction at the north end of the retention pond when the edge of the berm gave way and fell into the water. According to authorities, the retention pond depth ranges from 21 feet at the edge to 50 to 60 feet at the middle of the pond. Employee #1 could not be extricated from the articulating truck until July 23, 2008 due to it being stuck and the door could not be opened by rescue divers. The Medical Examiner listed Employee #1's cause of death as drowning and blunt force injury.

Keywords: EQUIPMENT OPERATOR, CONSTRUCTION, TRUCK, DROWN, SEWAGE