Inspection Detail

Inspection: 120060017 - Graham Contractors Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Labor Enforcement Task Force (Letf) Unit - South

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was a ground laborer, whose job did not involve picking or putting down road markers (reflectors) during the re-surfacing of a road. During the chip seal operation, sized gravel is loaded from a tilting dump truck to the hopper of a self-propelled spreader onto a prepared road surface covered with a tar/oil slurry. When the dump truck was disconnected from the spreader, it was waiting for the traffic flagmen approximately 125 ft away to signal "traffic stopped". When the traffic was stopped, the driver began backing at 3 mph with the backup alarm operating. No pedestrians were to be in the area. The truck backed for approximately 7 seconds when Employee #1 was seen to run from the safety of the edge of the road to a spot 94 ft from the intersection in a path directly behind the right rear duals of the truck. A witness saw Employee #1 reach over to pick up something (later determined to be a centerline reflector), when he was hit in the back by the rear end of the truck. Employee #1 was knocked to the pavement, where two sets of duals ran over him from foot to head. His skull was crushed and he was killed. The employer was cited for a serious non-accident related violation.

Keywords: FRACTURE, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, CRUSHED, SKULL, DUMP TRUCK, RUN OVER, BACKING UP, ROAD PAVING