CASE #266 – Worker electrocuted fixing light tower

A young worker apprenticing as a heavy-duty equipment technician was troubleshooting a portable light tower running off a diesel-powered generator. The lights on the tower were not working.

The apprentice tried various tactics, to no avail. With the tower running on its internal generator, he inserted a 12-volt automotive circuit tester into a lamp socket on the side of a junction box marked 440 V. This created an electrical pathway across his chest and electrocuted him.
Light towers, commonly used in the oil and gas industry and in construction, are complex, potentially dangerous pieces of equipment.Investigation found that the apprentice was not qualified to work on

electrical systems such as the light tower. Only a qualified electrician should have performed maintenance or troubleshooting other than changing bulbs on the tower. An electrician would have recognized that the circuit tester, which was labelled for use below 12 V, was the wrong tool for testing a 440 V socket.

This incident illustrates the need to take these preventive measures:

 Employers

CASE #265 – Three crushed by falling block wall

A 24-year-old labourer and a 37-year-old pipefitter were crushed by a falling block wall when it failed; they died of their injuries immediately. A 46-year-old utility foreman was injured.

At the time of the incident, the labourer was applying caulking to the expansion joints of the wall. The pipefitter and foreman were installing piping for the building’s sprinkler system in a trench next to the wall. A wind gust caused the block wall to fall onto all three. The project superintendent called 911, and emergency medical services arrived within 4 minutes. The labourer and pipefitter were pronounced dead at the scene, and the utility foreman was airlifted to a local hospital.

Occupational injuries and fatalities are often the result of one or more contributing factors or key events in a larger sequence of events that ultimately result in the injury or fatality. Investigators identified numerous unrecognized hazards as key contributing factors.

The clip and clip point were undamaged and remained connected throughout the incident. Also, the folded fabric portion of the lanyard had its plastic covering and stitching still intact. The anchor plate was attached directly to the leading corrugated decking sheet, about 18 inches from the edge.

The employer and employees were under the impression that the screws they used for the plate were of an appropriate length. The second worker also wore a retractable lanyard but his fall arrest system was attached to a beam clamp and not exposed to the leading-edge hazard.
The employer’s protocol for laying corrugated roofing materials requires that the leading edge of the decking not be secured until the next sheet is in place. Each metal sheet was fastened on the following end and anywhere else it was supported by a truss. The next sheet was then placed over the leading edge and attached with fasteners. This was continued until the roof was complete.

On the day of the incident, for an unknown reason, the victim fell from the leading edge. When his retractable lanyard reached the end, the anchor plate was pulled completely out of the decking, allowing the worker to fall 40 feet to the ground.

This incident illustrates the need to take these preventive measures: 

CASE #264 – Roofer wearing fall protection dies after falling

A 51-year old man died after falling from a roof at an industrial construction site. He was an immigrant who had worked as a roofer for several years for a small construction company, which had provided safety and job training at the site.

Concrete walls and metal roof trusses had been completed on the new warehouse and corrugated metal roof decking was being installed over the trusses. The victim was one of two workers on the roof to lay the decking.

He was at the leading edge position and wore a retractable lanyard clipped into an anchor plate. The plate has metal attachments affixed to an 8-inch stem on it and at the end of the attachments is a crossbar, to which the retractable lanyard is clipped.

The clip and clip point were undamaged and remained connected throughout the incident. Also, the folded fabric portion of the lanyard had its plastic covering and stitching still intact. The anchor plate was attached directly to the leading corrugated decking sheet, about 18 inches from the edge.

The employer and employees were under the impression that the screws they used for the plate were of an appropriate length. The second worker also wore a retractable lanyard but his fall arrest system was attached to a beam clamp and not exposed to the leading-edge hazard.
The employer’s protocol for laying corrugated roofing materials requires that the leading edge of the decking not be secured until the next sheet is in place. Each metal sheet was fastened on the following end and anywhere else it was supported by a truss. The next sheet was then placed over the leading edge and attached with fasteners. This was continued until the roof was complete.

On the day of the incident, for an unknown reason, the victim fell from the leading edge. When his retractable lanyard reached the end, the anchor plate was pulled completely out of the decking, allowing the worker to fall 40 feet to the ground.

This incident illustrates the need to take these preventive measures: 

CASE #263 – Pedestrian killed by recycling truck

A recycling truck driver collected two blue recycling boxes from a curb and emptied them into the loading bucket on the right side of the truck. The truck had dual driving controls, for both left and right side. The driver re-entered the truck from the right. He did not see a pedestrian cross the street and
walk in front of the truck.

Without checking all of the truck’s mirrors, he moved the truck forward using the right-side driving controls. The truck struck the pedestrian, who died from the injuries.