Inspection Detail

Inspection: 314034315 - Auto Truck, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Naperville Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 1:10 p.m. on April 5, 2010, Employee #1, a truck mechanic, was installing a knuckle boom hoist on a specialty truck body. The knuckle boom had been hoisted by an overhead bridge crane installed within the last year. The knuckle boom was suspended from the bridge crane hook by a synthetic endless round sling passed through an oblong ring that was fitted with a three-ton eye slip hook. Due to inadequate clearance over the truck bed, the knuckle boom had been hoisted to the truck bed and lowered to the floor for rigging adjustments. As the knuckle boom was hoisted over the height of the truck bed in a second attempt to mount the knuckle boom to the truck, the rigging failed. The knuckle boom dropped, striking the truck bed with its base mounting plate. It rotated from the top and continued falling. Employee #1 attempted to manually stabilize the knuckle boom and stop the rotation. Employee #1 was not successful and was pinned under the knuckle boom. Employee #1 was treated by in-house first aid responders prior to EMS arrival and was subsequently transported to a trauma unit and pronounced dead. Training had been performed by the vendor/manufacturer addressing safe rigging practices; however, manufacturer labels were not followed.

Keywords: BOOM TRUCK, RIGGING, BOOM, PINNED, HOIST, CRUSHED, FALLING OBJECT, CRANE