Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program |
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Maintenance Mechanic Killed when Improperly Installed Overhead Garage Door Toppled Scissors Lift |
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SummaryOn December 13, 2004, a 62-year-old maintenance mechanic employed by a facility maintenance firm, was fatally injured while servicing an overhead garage door for a shipping company. The facility maintenance firm had been contracted by the shipping company to repair the garage door. At the time of the incident, the victim and a co-worker were testing the door when the door became jammed with the bottom of the door three feet above the ground. The victim was working on the platform of a scissors lift that was extended approximately 15 feet above the ground and parked parallel to the door. No additional fall protection was used nor is it required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) when operating a scissors lift with a standard guardrail system. The victim first tried to manually disconnect the garage door arm assembly from the track with the emergency release handle by pulling the handle and cord assembly, but it would not release. He then asked the co-worker for a screwdriver. The co-worker and a shipping company mechanic were both in the area on the ground. The mechanic provided a screwdriver to the victim. The victim used the screwdriver to pry the emergency disconnect away from the chain drive assembly. According to the co-worker, both he and the victim anticipated that the door would go down upon being manually released due to its weight. Instead the door abruptly sprang upwards to the fully open position, striking the guardrail of the scissors lift and causing the lift to topple to the concrete floor. The co-worker and shipping company mechanic ran to the victim who had fallen out of the scissors lift and was lying on the concrete unresponsive. The mechanic called 911. The EMS squad and police arrived within minutes. The victim was quickly transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. New York State Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (NY FACE) investigators concluded that to help prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future, employers should:
IntroductionOn December 13, 2004 at approximately 7:00 p.m., a 62-year-old male maintenance mechanic who was employed by a facility maintenance firm, was killed when the scissors lift he was working from was struck by an overhead garage door in a cargo terminal building at an airport. The facility maintenance firm had been contracted by the owner of the cargo building, a shipping company, to repair the overhead door. NY FACE staff learned of the incident on December 14 from both a newspaper article and an area office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). On March 15, 2005, a NY FACE investigator traveled to the incident site and conducted an investigation. Additional information was obtained from the reports of the police investigator, the medical examiner’s office, death certificate, and OSHA. The victim’s employer had been in the facility/building maintenance business for several years and had six employees, including the victim, at the time of the incident. The facility maintenance firm had been contracted by the shipping company on a regular basis to perform maintenance tasks on its buildings at the airport. The victim had worked for the maintenance firm for approximately two years. He did not receive specific training on installing overhead doors, although, according to a co-worker, he had worked on numerous overhead doors prior to the incident. This was the company’s first work-related fatality. Back to TopInvestigationOn December 6, seven days prior to the incident, the maintenance firm was contracted by the shipping company to replace an overhead garage door in the center bay of its cargo terminal building. The maintenance contractors replaced major door components and installed new hinges, a motor operator, rollers, and door panels. The newly installed door (photo 1) was a standard (20 feet wide by 18 feet high) steel-insulated panel door. Including the hardware, the door weighed approximately 1,000 pounds. The maintenance firm did not have the door service manual available for the workers when they installed the new door. Following installation, the new door did not operate properly and the top door panel was bent in the middle. The victim and a co-worker returned to the cargo building on December 9 to make adjustments. They examined the door and then called the overhead door sales company to discuss the problem. The owner of the garage door company stated that he had several phone conversations with both the victim and his employer. In order to assist in determining a solution, the owner of the garage door company needed to know the door lift type and the size of the lift drums. The victim and his employer told the door company owner that the new door was a high-lift door with eight-inch lift drums; although, in fact, the door was a standard lift door with six-inch lift drums. Based on the incorrect information provided by the maintenance firm, the owner of the overhead door company recommended installing two additional torsion springs to balance the weight of the door. It was also recommended that a piece of angle iron be installed across the bent section of the top panel to straighten the panel and improve the door operation.
On the day of the incident, the victim and a co-worker arrived at the cargo terminal building around noon to install the additional parts. After installing the torsion springs, the victim and his co-worker were testing the door and making final adjustments when the door became jammed with the bottom of the door three feet above the ground. At approximately 7:00 p.m., the victim was working on the platform of a scissors lift that was extended approximately 15 feet above the ground and parked parallel to the door. No additional fall protection was used. Fall protection is not required by OSHA when operating a scissors lift with a standard guardrail system. The victim first tried to manually disconnect the door arm assembly from the track with the emergency release handle by pulling the handle and cord assembly, but it would not release. He then asked for a screwdriver. At this time, the co-worker and a shipping company mechanic were both in the area on the ground. The shipping company mechanic provided a screwdriver to the victim. The victim used the screwdriver to pry the emergency disconnect away from the chain drive assembly. According to the co-worker, both he and the victim anticipated that the door would go down upon being manually released due to its weight. However, the door abruptly sprang upwards to the fully open position, striking the guardrail of the scissors lift, and causing the lift to topple to the concrete floor. The co-worker and the shipping company mechanic ran to the victim who had fallen out of the lift and was lying on the concrete unresponsive. The mechanic called 911. The EMS squad and police arrived within minutes. The victim was quickly transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
According to the post-incident examination, the scissors lift had been operated within the scope of the technique specifications and performance capacity at the time of the incident. There were no known mechanical defects or malfunctioning parts on the scissors lift that may have contributed to the incident. The owner of the garage door company went to the cargo terminal building several days after the incident to repair the door for the shipping company. According to the garage door company owner, the facility maintenance firm made multiple mistakes when installing the overhead door: the hinges and the tracks were both installed incorrectly, and the door panels were placed upside down and inside out. If the door had been installed properly, the rollers would have been able to move easily inside the tracks. The incorrectly installed hinges and tracks inhibited the rollers’ movement and caused the door to jam. The overhead door was a standard lift door with six-inch drums. The two torsion springs later recommended were for a high-lift door with eight-inch lift drums; this was the door model mistakenly reported to the garage door company owner. It could be reasonably speculated that the force applied by the torsion springs was incorrect for this door. These mistakes may have caused the unbalanced door to spring up after the door was manually released. Back to TopCause of DeathThe cause of death listed on the autopsy report was multiple traumatic injuries due to fall from height. Recommendations/DiscussionRecommendation #1: Workers should stay clear of overhead door paths when working on overhead doors.Discussion: A jammed door may have tremendous potential energy that may be released suddenly when the jam is cleared. Workers should stay clear of overhead door paths. The door path should also be clear of any lift or other equipment that may cause injury if struck by the moving door.
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