Incident Investigation: Worker Injured While Offloading Concrete Barrier | WorkSafeBC — Transcript

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1. 0:02I'm Corinne Lapointe, Investigating Officer with WorkSafeBC. Before you start a job, make
2. 0:07sure a hazard assessment and a job plan have been done. That didn't happen at this well
3. 0:12site - instead the workers improvised. Things went terribly wrong.
4. 0:17A truck driver arrived with a load of concrete barriers. He'd been told that there would
5. 0:22be a picker truck for offloading, but there wasn't one.
6. 0:26Instead, just before the truck arrived an excavator operator on the site was directed
7. 0:31by his supervisor to offload using this excavator.
8. 0:36With no proper lifting attachment on site, the two workers improvised with what was on
9. 0:40hand. The truck driver had some tie-down chains so he rigged them above the excavator bucket
10. 0:45and around the two grooves beneath a barrier.
11. 0:47When the excavator lifted the barrier, one chain slipped out of its groove. The truck
12. 0:52driver waved to the excavator operator to stop and to lower the load so he could reposition
13. 0:57the chains.
14. 0:59The operator couldn't hear what the driver was saying, so with the load suspended, he
15. 1:03engaged the safety lockout lever. This disabled the operating controls, preventing the excavator
16. 1:09and boom from moving. He then exited his cab and talked to the driver.
17. 1:15As the operator climbed back into the excavator, his pant leg snagged the safety lockout lever,
18. 1:20releasing it. This enabled the controls. His left pocket then snagged a joystick.
19. 1:26The excavator's boom suddenly swung. The barrier glanced off the driver's chest,
20. 1:31dipped down and then struck his lower leg, knocking him off the flat-deck.
21. 1:36The barrier then slipped from the chains and crashed onto the flat-deck. This accident
22. 1:42didn't have to happen.
23. 1:44Safety activities must be coordinated on multiple-employer worksites. Here, the work among the different
24. 1:49employers was not coordinated.
25. 1:52The pre-job planning was inadequate. Employers must perform a risk assessment, identify hazards,
26. 1:58and implement safe work procedures. Don't start a job until the proper equipment and
27. 2:04procedures are in place.
28. 2:06The supervision was also inadequate. Supervisors must inform workers of hazards and regularly
29. 2:12check that workers are doing their jobs safely.
30. 2:14Although an excavator can be used to lift barriers, a picker truck or forklift provides
31. 2:20better control.
32. 2:22With a picker truck or excavator, use an engineered lifting device. Most precast concrete suppliers
33. 2:28have specialized barrier lifts available for loan.
34. 2:31Never leave the controls of lifting equipment while a load is suspended. And keep a safe
35. 2:37distance from the load.
36. 2:39The driver's leg was fractured so badly that part of it had to be amputated. Don't
37. 2:43improvise. Plan ahead and stay safe.