Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: CRUSHING

Section 40.1-51.1(A), Code of Virginia: The employer, General Shale Brick, did not furnish to each of its employees safe employment and a place of employment which was free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm in that employees were exposed to fatal crushing hazards while working around the Hopper Machine. On May 11, 2004, at Plant # 37, in the Grinding Room, employees were removing soil from the Hopper Machine in order to repair a broken chain pulley. A front end loader was brought in to unload soil from the top of the hopper to reduce the amount of soil that would have to be unloaded by hand. Three employees had been at the front of the Hopper Machine unloading soil by shovel, but moved away from the machine when the front end loader entered the area. One of the three employees re-entered the front of the Hopper Machine to apparently place a piece of black plastic for the employees to work from. A steel plate fell approximately 6 feet from the side of the Hopper onto the employee who had re-entered the area. The employee died from his injuries. The steel plate that fell had been welded in place approximately two weeks prior to the fatal accident by a maintenance employee. A post-accident structural inspection of the steel plate and the four welds that held the plate in place revealed that there did not appear to be any joint preparation for the welds, that there was poor weld quality, that weld length and placement did not meet American Welding Society requirements, and that the maintenance worker who had previously welded the steel plate to the Hopper Machine had no specific welding qualification or training as recognized by the American Welding Society (AWS). One feasible way to abate the above hazard would be for the employer to assure that welding operations involving the adding or modifying of structural metal components to buildings or machinery meet recognized procedures in AWS D1.1-02 (Part 8 Strengthening and Repairing Existing Structures); and that only fully qualified and trained welders be utilized in such welding operations (reference AWS D1.1-02 (Part 4 Qualifications)).