Report summary and highlights
On January 18, 2018, a 27-year-old laborer was killed while operating a compact excavator. He was using the compact backhoe type excavator underneath a home when he became pinned between the excavator and an overhead beam.
In that same section, there is a table with the following information:
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Incident Highlights |
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Date |
January 18, 2018 |
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Time |
8:30 a.m. |
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Victim |
27-year-old landscape construction laborer |
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Industry/NAICS Code |
Construction, Site Preparation Contractor/238910 |
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Employer |
Landscape construction contractor |
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Safety & Training |
Employer provided PPE and on-the-job training |
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Scene |
Residential construction site, basement excavation |
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Location |
Massachusetts |
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Event Type |
Crushing |
Contributing factors
Key contributing factors identified in this investigation include:
- Operating the excavator near overhead obstructions;
- Absence of a protective cab on the excavator;
- Lack of a comprehensive safety and health program; and
- Working alone.
Recommendations
The Massachusetts FACE Program concluded that, to help prevent similar occurrences, employers should:
- Ensure that only workers with required training and license are permitted to operate compact excavators and other regulated equipment.
- Ensure that ride-on equipment without a protective cab are not operated in the vicinity of overhead obstructions.
- Develop, implement, and enforce a policy that prevents employees from working alone in certain situations.
- Ensure that a job hazard analysis is performed prior to the start of each project and updated if there is a major change in the scope of the project.
- Develop and implement a comprehensive safety and health program that addresses hazard recognition, avoidance of unsafe conditions, and proper use of equipment.
In addition, equipment manufacturers should:
- Adopt and implement the concept of Prevention through Design (PtD) to identify potential hazards associated with equipment and then eliminate these hazards through design changes.
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| Date published: | May 8, 2020 |
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