Inspection Detail

Inspection: 309186740 - Martin Block Company Dba Jackson Building Material

Inspection Information - Office: Columbus Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 6:30 a.m. on October 2, 2006, Employee #1 was working at the Martin Block Company. He had attempted to free a blockage that had prevented sand from dropping from the sand hopper into the weighing hopper. He banged on the sand hopper and used a rod to jab at the blockage from below. He was unsuccessful in clearing the blockage. He walked up the conveyor catwalk and climbed into the main sand hopper. He used a 10-ft metal conduit to push down through the sand to free the blockage. The blockage cleared and sand dropped into the weighing hopper. The sand and gravel in the weighing hopper was then automatically conveyed to the mixer. Employee #1 was engulfed when the hopper automatically refilled. He was killed. The employer did not have a permit-required confined space program and did not prohibit employees from entering the hoppers. The employer also did not have a lock-out/tag-out program and did not have specific procedures for locking out the conveyors, hoppers, and mixers.

Keywords: ENTRY PERMIT, CONFINED SPACE, WORK RULES, LOCKOUT, FALL, FALL PROTECTION, HOPPER