Inspection Detail

Inspection: 313012270 - Southern Illinois Asphalt Company, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Fairview Heights Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 1:30 pm, on June 6, 2009, an employee was operating a vibrating roller machine on newly laid asphalt. While working next to a right handed curb, the rolling machine which the employee was working on rolled over into a grassy ditch on the east side of the roadway. The employee was pinned under the machine, and received crushing injuries to the head and chest. The employee was killed. The roller machine was an Ingersoll-Rand Roller, Model Number ST-80. Prior to the accident, asphalt had been laid on the eastbound lane of a two lane rural roadway. The lanes were both 10 feet in width, and no asphalt or gravel shoulder was present on the roadway at the location of the accident. The roadway dropped approximately 4-6 inches to a grassy ditch which was approximately 4 feet from it. The pitch of the road surface was measured at 4.7 percent. The length of the roadway being worked on was approximately 3.5 miles in length. The employee was working alone at the time of the accident. The majority of the crew was working with a paving machine approximately 0.75 miles to the east of the location of the accident. The other half of the crew was working to the north west of the employee, approximately 0.25 to 0.5 miles. According to statements from both employer and employee representatives, the roller operators were trained prior to the use of the machine, and warned to stay on the blacktop. The weather conditions were sunny and dry.

Keywords: CHEST, HEAD, ROLLER--CONST EQUIP, PINNED, MACHINE OPERATOR, STRUCK BY, OVERTURN