Accident: 688408 - Killed When Struck By Air Spring
Employee #1 and his employer were attempting to raise a truck/tractor with an unsecured tractor/trailer air spring and a 4 in. by 4 in. by 16 in. wooden timber under the front axle. Employee #1, who was lying under the tractor, put the wood block and air spring between the floor and axle. The employer crawled out and went over to the air compressor equipment. He turned on the compressor and began putting compressed air at approximately 70 psi into the air spring. He heard a loud noise, believed to be caused by the air spring blowing up. The air spring or the wood block struck Employee #1 in the head. He suffered blunt force trauma, brain contusion, and hemorrhaging, of which he died.
work rules, struck by, compressed air, brain, air spring, explosion, head, flying object, unsecured, high pressure
Accident: 789792 - Head Punctured By Air Nail Gun
At around 4:20 p.m. on April 15, 1994, Employee #1 was at a manufactured home plant in Bend, OR. He attempted to step down and walk beside a coworker who was standing on a 5 ft stepladder installing sheet rock on a header with a Dual Fast pneumatic nail gun. When the coworker finished nailing the header, he lowered the nail gun with his finger on the trigger and contacted the head of Employee #1, who was stooped over. The safety trigger release on the nail gun depressed and a 1 1/2 inch nail entered Employee #1's head. Employee #1 was transported by ambulance to the St. Charles Hospital in Bend and was released after two nights' stay.
installing, air spring, nail, hand tool, puncture, head, inattention, portable power tool
Accident: 14353544 - Struck And Killed By A Flying Piece Of Steel Bar
After discovering that the semi-trailer had a flat right rear tire, Employee #1 chose to use an old air spring to jack the truck. (An air spring is a bladder device that expands in an up/down movement depending on applied air pressure. The air spring is used on the rear of some semi-trailers to give a softer ride.) Employee #1 placed two 4 by 4s on the floor, placed the air spring on the 4 by 4s, and then placed two pieces of 1 in. thick by 2 1/2 in. wide steel bar stock on top of the air spring. For a valve to fill the bladder, the employee installed a power take-off valve that had no provision to regulate the amount of air entering the bladder. When the valve was activated, 175 lb of air pressure was instantly released into the bladder, causing the bladder to expand and slam upward into the bottom area of the trailer. The steel bar stock flew out and one piece hit Employee #1 in the head. He died.
tractor trailer, repair, air spring, high pressure, bladder, inflating, flying object, steel, struck by, work rules
Accident: 14535041 - Struck By Expanding Air Spring
EMPLOYEE #1 WAS ATTEMPTING TO ROTATE AIR BAGS (SPRINGS). HE HAD REMOVED THE LOWER MOUNTING BOLTS, BUT HAD NEGLECTED TO RELIEVE THE AIR PRESSURE. THE AIR SPRING EXPANDED DOWNWARD, STRIKING THE EMPLOYEE IN THE HEAD. HE WAS FATALLY INJURED. THE EMPLOYEE WAS WORKING ON A LOADED FLAT-BED TRAILER.
struck by, air pressure, head, trailer, air spring
