Inspection Detail

Inspection: 317368975 - Kamikaze, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Nv-E-Las Vegas 0953220

Investigation Summary

At approximately 3:24 a.m. on November 13, 2013, Employee #1, a 30-year-old male with Kamikaze Inc., was installing of a wire rope at the west landing platform of the Fremont Street Experience "Slotzilla" Zip Line. The rigging system incorporated pulleys and anchorage points provided a, "3-to-1" mechanical advantage, when tensioning the main wire rope. While tensioning the wire rope, a component of the rigging system, preliminarily identified as a chain mounted come-a-long lever hoist, failed catastrophically, resulting in the sudden and uncontrolled release of the tension on the system. The failure of the come-a-long, which was being used to draw the rigging into alignment, created a slingshot effect on the rigging due to the sudden release of tension on the system. A component of the system struck Employee #1 and inflicted severe traumatic injuries to his face, skull and cervical spine. Employee #1 was attended to on scene by medical responders from City of Las Vegas Fire & Rescue and American Medical Response (AMR), and was transported via ambulance to University Medical Center where he was hospitalized in the Trauma Intensive Care Unit in critical condition.

Keywords: CHAIN, FRACTURE, HEAD, RIGGING, SPINE, HOIST, STRUCK BY, PULLEY, FACE