Employee #1 was getting ready to land a pile being set around a metal ring to form a cofferdam. He had moved his stirrups and the next pile was swinging toward him when the pile he was positioned on suddenly dropped about five feet. The seat of his pants became caught on the pile behind him and he was shot straight forward.
Employee #1 fell approximately 30 feet, struck the back of his head on the metal ring, and slipped into the river. His body was removed 20 minutes later; he was pronounced dead at the scene.
What went wrong?
The OSHA report lacks many details, but it appears that basic safety equipment was not used on this job. That equipment includes a hard hat—Employee #1 died because the on the back of his head struck the metal ring hard enough for him to lose consciousness and drown. A properly secured hard hat should have prevented that hard a blow. Additionally, the employee also was not secured by a harness and cable while guiding a moving pile, which would have prevented the 30-foot fall.
Accidents occur in construction, but a lack of safety equipment—or its deployment—is preventable.
Reprinted from Marine Construction Magazine Issue III, 2023.
