Case 348 – Worker breaks neck vertebrae in short fall
Case 348 – Worker breaks neck vertebrae in short fall
A worker was attempting to remove a jam from the sliver chute of a whole-tree chipper. He was standing on a flat fuel tank pulling wood slivers from the chute when the jam unexpectedly released. As a result, the worker lost his balance, and fell backwards off the fuel tank, less than 1.5 metres (five feet) to the ground, suffering fractures to the vertebrae in his neck.
Many large pieces of mobile equipment are not ideally designed for safe maintenance procedures. When performing maintenance on this type of machinery, there is a well-known risk of slipping, tripping or falling.
In this case, as is common with large pieces of equipment, there was limited access for maintenance purposes, which meant the worker had to stand awkwardly on top of the fuel tank to perform maintenance. And so, regardless of height distances, there is a significant risk of serious injury to workers falling from this unprotected location.
This incident illustrates the need to follow these safety precautions:
- Conduct a risk assessment of the hazards, and develop safe work procedures for doing maintenance-related tasks.
- Ensure safe maintenance methods are followed — jobs are well-planned, and the work area is cleared of debris and other slip and fall hazards.
- When working at any height and there is potential for a fall, workers must be protected by engineering controls (in this case, after the incident, the employer installed a guardrail system on the fuel tank) and fall protection equipment appropriate for the situation.
- Workers who are unsure of a safe way to conduct work should always consult with the supervisor.