Inspection Detail

Inspection: 303081764 - Angelo Iafrate Construction Company

Inspection Information - Office: Baton Rouge Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was a mechanic for a heavy equipment leasing company. He and a mechanic from a different leasing company, were at the site of a light truck manufacturing plant that was being expanded. They had been hired to maintain the general contractor's fleet of excavating equipment, and were engaged in trying to find the source of an oil leak on a Caterpillar wheel-tractor scraper, model 631D. To access the engine compartment, Employee #1 used a come-along and a chain to lower the hinged belly pan to the ground. While he was standing on the ground looking up into the engine compartment, the coworker reached through a cab window of the scraper and started the engine. The drive shaft wound up the chain, which in turn pulled up the belly pan. Employee #1 became caught between the engine and the belly pan as it rose up. He sustained crushing injuries and was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Keywords: SCRAPER, ROTATING SHAFT, WORK RULES, CHAIN, REPAIR, MECHANIC, CAUGHT BETWEEN, CRUSHED, COMMUNICATION