Accident Report Detail

Accident Summary Nr: 200970036 - Employee drowns when excavator falls into roadside pond

Accident Summary Nr: 200970036 -- Report ID: 1032700 -- Event Date: 01/27/1999
Inspection Nr	Date Opened	SIC	NAICS	Establishment Name
300697760	01/29/1999	1629	0	Bureau Of Land Management

Abstract: Employee #1 was using an excavator to remove quantities of debris blocking the mouth of a culvert under a logging road. Heavy rains had caused a 20 ft deep by 40 ft wide by 60 ft long body of water to form next to the road and to flow over it. As he removed debris from the bottom of the pool of water, the side of the road on which the excavator was located was gouged away. This undermined the surface on which the excavator was situated, but since the water was muddy and as high as the surface of the road, Employee #1 did not notice this. When the excavator arm was extended and caused the machine's center of gravity to shift beyond the road surface, the excavator fell into the water. It landed on the door of the operator's cab, trapping Employee #1 inside. He died as a result of drowning. Employee #1 had never been involved in removing material from such a large project, and he was unfamiliar with the slope of the shoulder at the side of the road.

Keywords: EQUIPMENT OPERATOR, CONSTRUCTION, EARTHMOVING EQUIP, CLOGGED, INEXPERIENCE, EXCAVATOR, UNSTABLE SOIL, DROWN, UNSTABLE POSITION, WATER

Accident Details
End Use		Project Type		Project Cost	Stories	Non-building Height	Fatality
Highway, road, street		Maintenance or repair		Under $50,000			X

Employee Details
Employee #	Inspection Nr	Age	Sex	Degree of Injury	Nature of Injury	Occupation	Construction
1	300697760			Fatality	Asphyxia	Occupation not reported	Distance of Fall: feet Worker Height Above Ground/Floor: feet Cause: Installing culverts and incidental drainage Fatality Cause: Crushed/run-over/trapped of operator by operating

Thank You for Visiting Our Website

You are exiting the Department of Labor's Web server.

The Department of Labor does not endorse, takes no responsibility for, and exercises no control over the linked organization or its views, or contents, nor does it vouch for the accuracy or accessibility of the information contained on the destination server. The Department of Labor also cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked Web sites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked Web site. Thank you for visiting our site. Please click the button below to continue.