Inspection Detail

Inspection: 312663321 - Meridian Construction

Inspection Information - Office: Monrovia District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 11:12 a.m. on March 22, 2010, Employee #1 was attempting to bend a piece of rebar, approximately .75 inches in diameter by 24 inches long, with the bucket of a backhoe at a construction site. The operation required that Employee #1, on the ground, to hold the rebar clamped inside the bucket and a coworker, the job foremen and backhoe operator, to apply pressure to the clamped rebar through hydraulic pressure. When the coworker applied pressure to the clamped rebar, it became dislodged and shot out of the front bucket where Employee #1 was standing. The force of exiting rebar drew Employee #1's fingers, that were outside the bucket, into the area between two halves of the bucket and because there was already pressure on the bucket, it instantaneously closed on Employee #1's fingers. Employee #1 was hospitalized at Pomona Valley Hospital to receive medical treatment for partial amputation to his right little and middle fingers. Employee #1 was employed by Meridian Construction who employed approximately five employees. Meridian Construction had been at the site in Covina, CA for about three months constructing graves at the mortuary. The employer did not report the accident to Cal/Osha. An unsafe work practice existed at accident time which could have been easily avoided by choosing a right bending tool for the above job.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, REBAR, FINGER, CAUGHT BETWEEN, BACKHOE, BACKHOE BUCKET, HAND