Accident: 170205173 - Injured When Struck By Falling Beam

At approximately 9:45 a.m. on November 9, 2000, employees of the Hathaway-Dinwiddie Construction Company were stripping the deck of 2 by 4 falsework when part of the deck popped loose and knocked an 8 in. by 8 in. by 7 ft beam toward Employee #1. He was standing directly in front of the beam and could not get away in time. The beam fell, striking his head, face, nose, left hand, and knee. Employee #1 was stunned and felt slightly dizzy, but did not lose consciousness. No accident-related violations were found in connection with this incident.

construction, face, falling object, struck against, struck by, hand, beam, dizziness

Accident: 120308267 - Injured In Fall With Purlin Beam

Employee #1 worked for a heavy construction contractor who built freeway overpasses. He was preparing to descend a ladder to a lower level at an overpass project when he stepped on a purlin beam instead of the ladder rung. The beam was not designed to be a weight-bearing support; it failed under Employee #1's weight and he fell approximately 10 ft. He sustained injuries that included a spine fracture at the L-1 level, two fractured ribs on his left side, a ruptured spleen, and a concussion.

construction, head, beam, fall, descending, ladder, fracture, spine, unstable position, concussion

Accident: 119897197 - Injured When Crushed By Beam

At approximately 12:08 p.m. on April 4, 2000, Employee #1 was moving an I-beam when it was struck on the opposite end by another I-beam as it exited the automatic saw. Employee #1's beam went into his abdomen, and it lifted and pushed him into a shelf rack and up against stacked hangers. Employee #1 became caught between the rack and the beam; he sustained injuries that required hospitalization.

clearance, caught between, beam, abdomen, struck by, struck against, manual mat handling, storage rack

Accident: 170272033 - Killed In Fall From Deck During Demolition

Employee #1 and a coworker were freeing welds to dismantle metal decking on steel beams that were part of a mezzanine in an office building that was being demolished. The electrical wiring and sprinkler pipes had already been removed. There were a total of seven metal beams, with a span of approximately 5 ft between each one, and each section of steel deck was approximately 30 ft long by 2 ft wide, with interlocking ends. To break the welds, Employee #1 and the coworker popped up a sheetrock cart secured with a C-clamp to the forks of a forklift. Once a section had been freed, the two men cut the section into three 10 ft long pieces, each weighing about 138 lb. Employee #1 had just cut one such section when for some reason he stepped onto the end of an unsecured piece. Both he and the metal piece fell 11 ft onto the concrete floor. Employee #1 was transported to the hospital, where he died a short time later.

demolition, construction, fall, dismantling, unsecured, steel erection, walking on beam, work rules

Accident: 656082 - Killed In Fall While Walking On Beam

Employee #1 was walking across a support beam when he fell 17 ft onto a concrete floor. He was killed. Employee #1 was wearing an unattached harness at the time of the accident.

tie-off, fall, fall protection, work rules, construction, walking on beam, safety belt

Accident: 170205835 - Hand Injured When Caught Under Beams

At approximately 12:30 p.m. on July 29, 1999, Employee #1 was working as an iron worker on a raising crew. He was on the third level of a building under construction in San Francisco. As the steel member was lifted, one end became caught on the perimeter cable. This caused the opposite end to raise out-of-level, where Employee #1 was standing. The member was finally cleared, and the opposite end of the member came down. Employee #1's right hand was under that member, and it fractured his wrist. He was transported to California Pacific Medical Center for treatment.

construction, hand, beam, wrist, steel erection, iron worker, caught between, fracture, struck by