Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310491907 - Bay Construction Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 9:50 a.m. on June 20, 2008, Employee #1, a foreman, was securing the loose end of a roll of telecommunication wire on a roll. The 9000 pounds of wire had been removed from an underground conduit with an extractor and was being taken from the worksite to a storage facility. The securing pins and keeper had been removed from both sides of the extractor by coworkers. The employee began to secure the wire by lying under the roll, pushing the wire into place, and tying the wire end to the roll. The roll would not remain stationary so the employee asked a coworker to instruct the machine operator to place the drive wheels of the extractor against the roll to prevent roll movement. When the coworker hydraulically moved the drive wheels against the roll, the roll fell off the extractor landing on the employee. The 2 in. wide metal rim of the roll of wire crushed the employee's left arm against the asphalt pavement. The employee suffered a surgical arm amputation, a fractured shoulder, and fractured ribs. Employee #1 was hospitalized for seventeen days. The investigation concluded that the injured employee/foreman was working under an unsecured load and the employer was cited.

Keywords: FRACTURE, AMPUTATED, SHOULDER, UNSECURED, RIB, STRUCK BY, ARM, FALLING OBJECT