Inspection Detail

Inspection: 120115332 - Pkb Construction Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 8:30 a.m. on June 15, 1993, Employee #1 and several other employees were involved in a special overtime assignment that included the removal and securing of falsework scaffolding from the bed of the Los Angeles River under the Long Beach Boulevard Bridge, between bridge piers #8 and #9. At the time of the accident, Employee #1 was helping another employee hand load scaffolding members into the bucket of a front end loader for removal from the river bed because it was raining and there was the threat of rising river water. As Employee #1 was loading, he and several other employees noticed the rising water coming toward them from upstream, just beyond concrete k-rail barriers in front of piers #8 and #9. As Employee #1 and the others continued to work, the water hit the barriers, dislodging them. Employee #1 and the other employees started to run for safety. Employee #1 and two other employees got on a skiploader and tried to ride it out of the river, but the rising river tipped the vehicle over and Employee #1 and the two others were swept downstream. The employer called 911 and paramedics removed Employee #1 from the river downstream, where he was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center and pronounced dead.

Keywords: BARRIER GUARD, CONSTRUCTION, RIVER, LOADER, DROWN, SCAFFOLDING