Inspection Detail

Inspection: 312233505 - Zumbro River Construction - Hwy Bridge

Inspection Information - Office: Minnesota Department Of Labor And Industry

Investigation Summary

On May 15, 2008, Employee #1, Employee #2, and Employee #3, all Zumbro River Constructors employees, were moving a bulldozer. Employee #4 was to stop the east bound traffic on Hwy 212, and Employee #6 was to stop westbound traffic on Hwy 212. Employee #5 was to drive the bulldozer south bound on Mt. Hope Rd, cross Hwy 212 and park the bull dozer on Mt. Hope road on the south side of Hwy 212. At the time of the accident, there was no construction work going on. The employees were attempting to move the bull dozer across Hwy 212 to park it. Employee #4 did not witness the accident and did not see what Employee #6 was doing at the time of the accident. The only witness was Employee #5. Employee #5 stated that Employee #6 had pulled his company vehicle to the side of Hwy 212 with the lights flashing. Employee #6 exited his vehicle wearing a hard hat, high visibility vest and a stop stick (traffic control device). The stop stick was a sign with stop on one side and slow on the other. Employee #6, while standing on the side of the road, stopped one vehicle traveling west on Hwy 212. Employee #6 then moved into the road and was standing on the white line that divided the west bound thru lane and the west bound turning lane that turned onto Mt. Hope. Employee #5 stated that there was only one car stopped going westbound as no other west bound vehicles were in site. Employee #5 stated that he then looked to the east bound lane waiting for Employee #4 to stop east bound traffic. As Employee #5 looked back in the direction of Employee #6, Employee #5 stated that he saw him on the hood of a sport utility vehicle and got knocked to the ground. Employee #5 stated that the vehicle that hit the victim was not the original vehicle that was stopped. Employee #5 stated that the vehicle that was stopped, must have decided to turn off of Hwy 212 and onto Mt. Hope road instead of waiting for Employee #6 to allow traffic to start moving again. Employee #5 did not know where the SUV came from as he did not see it before the accident. Employee #5 stated that he does not know where Employee #6 was standing or what he was doing when he was hit by the SUV. Employee #5 was looking at the east bound traffic at the time. Employee #6 died of multiple internal injuries caused by the impact from the SUV.

Keywords: TRAFFIC ACCIDENT, TRAFFIC CONTROL, STRUCK BY, RUN OVER