Wood fabricating assembler died after being crushed by a wooden flange in California.
Source
NIOSH 1995 Dec; :1-3
Abstract
A 42-year-old male, Hispanic wood fabricating assembler (the victim) died when a wooden flange he was attempting to roll to an assembly rack (jig) fell over and crushed him. The flange was 92" in diameter and weighed approximately 350 pounds. It was being rolled manually 25 feet to the assembly area where it was to become part of a reel or spool used to store wire. The victim's employer stated that rolling flanges was the typical method used to move them from the entrance way to the jig. The employer also stated that the victim was familiar with the hazards involved in rolling the flange. The concrete surface on which the flange was being rolled was flat, but was wet from recent rains. Though there were no witnesses to the incident, a co-worker in the general vicinity heard a loud noise when the flange fell to the ground. He ran to see what had happened and discovered the victim underneath the flange. The co-worker lifted the flange from the victim's head and summoned emergency services to the scene. Fire department paramedics arrived in approximately 5 minutes and transported the victim to a community hospital where he was later pronounced dead. The CA/FACE investigator concluded that in order to prevent similar future occurrences, employers should: 1. evaluate their manual materials handling procedures assuring that safe methods are used. 2. conduct job safety analyses on all tasks in order to identify potential hazards before initiating and continuing work at a job site. Once hazards have been identified, appropriate corrective actions should be taken. 3. implement and maintain a written Injury & Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) which addresses the hazards associated with, and the specific safety training necessary for materials handling.
Keywords
Region-9; Accident-analysis; Accident-prevention; Accidents; Injuries; Injury-prevention; Traumatic-injuries; Work-operations; Work-analysis; Work-areas; Work-performance; Work-practices; Safety-education; Safety-equipment; Safety-measures; Safety-monitoring; Protective-measures; Training; Woodworkers; Woodworking; Woodworking-industry
Document Type
Field Studies; Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation
Funding Type
Cooperative Agreement
NTIS Accession No.
PB2007-112115
Identifying No.
FACE-95CA005; Cooperative-Agreement-Number-U60-CCU-907284
Source Name
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Performing Organization
Public Health Institute
