Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program |
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43-Year-Old Construction Foreman Dies After Struck by Steel Pile |
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SummaryOn August 29, 2006, a 43-year-old male construction foreman was killed when he was struck by a falling steel I-beam pile. The victim worked for a construction company in northern New Jersey. On the day of the incident, the victim and four other workers were in the process of piledriving steel I-beam piles into several pits (each containing either three or eight piles) at the construction site of a large parking garage. The victim’s job was to stand in the pit and guide the beam that was being hoisted by the pile driver (which functions as a crane and a hammer) to the appropriate position to be hammered. While the victim was guiding the pile, before it was properly located, the hammer dropped from its upper position. Since the pile was not in the proper location, the hammer struck the pile on its side, instead of the top. The fatal injury occurred when the beam then fell to the side, striking the victim. NJ FACE investigators recommend following these safety guidelines to prevent similar incidents:
IntroductionOn August 29, 2006, a federal OSHA compliance officer notified NJ FACE staff of the death of a 43-year-old construction foreman who was killed after being struck by a steel I-beam pile at a construction site. A FACE investigator conferred with the compliance officer, and arranged to conduct a concurrent investigation, which took place on September 7, 2006. During the visit, FACE investigators were permitted to participate in the OSHA witness interviews and to examine both the pit where the victim was fatally injured and a pile driver similar to that involved in the incident. The area and the pile driver were photographed. Additional information was obtained from the police report, the medical examiner’s report, and the OSHA investigation file. The victim’s employer was a general construction company for which he had worked for 23 years. The company employed 15 workers; seven were working on the site the day of the incident, and four were working in the particular pit where the incident occurred. Employee training was conducted through the Union of Operating Engineers Local Training Center, and on site by the employer. Back to TopInvestigationThe incident occurred at an expansive, open construction site in an urban area of New Jersey. The pit where the victim was injured was a 12-by-12-foot area, approximately 50 inches deep. Several pits had already been completed including (both 8-pile and 3-pile pits). After the piles were driven, concrete was to be poured into the pit to form the foundation for a 4 ½ story parking garage that would service the apartment buildings that were also to be built on the site. A crane-supported pneumatic pile driver was used to sink the piles. This device used air pressure to raise an 11,200-pound hammer onto the top of a pile. The hammer moved on steel tracks (leads), which are longer in length than the piles. The piles were lifted vertically into position with the crane over the area where they were to be driven. To raise a pile into the leads, the crane operator lowered the hammer close to the ground where a worker connected nylon straps. As the hammer was raised, the pile was then lifted with it until fully upright in the leads (See Figure 1).
When the pile was not long enough, extensions were required. In order to add an extension, a shoe (the piece that interlocks with the extension pile to hold it in place) was first welded to the end of the existing pile (see Figure 2). Then the extension pile (a 10 ft. pile in this case) was hoisted and moved via the crane to a point where it rested on the shoe. The crew in the pit ensured this position by manually adjusting the extension pile’s position. After the pit crew and spotter approved the position of the extension pile, the hammer was gently lowered to rest on top of the pile to hold it in place, and the extension pile was welded to the shoe. After the welding was completed, the extended pile was hammered to the desired depth by the pile driver.
The incident occurred at approximately 9:45 AM on Tuesday, August 29, 2006, a damp and rainy day. The job started at 7:00 AM, and a crew of four began “knitting” (welding) extension piles to the first of eight to be completed in the pit on that day; no hammering was to be done on this day. Just prior to the 9:15 AM break, the crew successfully knitted the second extension pile. Work resumed at approximately 9:30 AM, and the incident occurred shortly thereafter. It is not exactly clear what happened, therefore the following two versions from the crane operator and the spotter, respectively, are presented. Version #1: According to the crane operator, the crew was knitting a 10-foot extension pile onto an existing pile. He lifted the extension pile from the ground with the crane and placed it on top of the existing pile. Once in place, the victim, who was in the pit in order to manually position the pile, signaled with two fingers to the crane operator (a two-finger signal indicates “operate the hammer;” a one-finger signal indicates “operate the crane”). The crane operator then gently lowered the hammer onto the extension pile and, according to the operator, it supported the weight of the hammer. The crane inadvertently swung to the right, and the victim then instructed the operator to “bump” (nudge) it back to the left. The operator bumped the crane back, and at that moment, the extension “spit” out. According to the crane operator, the victim tried to move, but fell. Version #2: According to the spotter, the setting of the extension proceeded correctly, as per the operator. The victim was ensuring that the pile was in position. Then the leads of the crane swung causing the beam to tilt over to one side (the victim’s side), positioning the extension pile directly over the victim. According to the spotter, the normal practice would then be to swing the extension back and straighten it out. However, at this point the hammer was inadvertently dropped, and it hit the misaligned extension pile (see Figure 3-4), which caused it to fall. The pile fell on top of the victim. Other workers attempted to provide assistance while one worker called 911. Police and rescue workers responded, and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene via telemetry.
Back to TopRecommendations/DiscussionRecommendation #1: Employers should ensure that pile driver operators are properly trained on the safe operation of pile driving equipment.Discussion: All pile driver operators should be properly trained in the safe use of the equipment. Employers should provide classroom and hands-on training to the operators, and training must be specific to the worksite and equipment used. Training must be taught by a competent person, and operators should be certified as having passed the training.
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