Inspection Detail

Inspection: 101445807 - American Davidson, Incorporated

Inspection Information - Office: Boston South Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, a hand grinder operator, had just lowered an approximately 8 ft diameter fan wheel onto a support roller stand, using a Pendant floor-operated crane. When he came around the side of the wheel to check its positioning, it tipped toward him. Employee #1 started to run, but was blocked by a steel scrap box that had been placed approximately 2 ft from the roller stand the day before. Consequently, he was hit in the back by the fan, pinned against the top edge of the scrap box, and killed. Though several employees were working approximately 20 ft away from the accident site, only one person saw the wheel fall over the fan wheel. The fan wheel is supported across the rollers along only 19 in. of overall flange width. The fan wheels were not positioned squarely on the support rolls stand. In addition, the approximately 6 in. diameter support rolls had an undercut in the center along an 11 in. length to approximately 4 1/2 in. diameter. One flange could have slipped into the recess. In the past, employees had spot welded angle iron brackets to the frame of the support roll stand in order to prevent less stable wheel(s) from falling over. This procedure had not been followed in this case.

Keywords: OBSTRUCTED EGRESS, UNSECURED, PINNED, WORK RULES, CRUSHED, FALLING OBJECT, UNSTABLE LOAD