Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report for Texas: A Plumber Repairing a Water Line in a Trench in Texas Died When He was Struck By the Bucket of a Backhoe

摘要

On October 4, 1999 a 47 year-old male plumber died when he was struck by the bucket of a backhoe while he was repairing a water line in a trench for a shopping center. The victim and an apprentice plumber were at the bottom of the trench removing straight and angled cast iron pipes and placing them in the backhoe bucket. The operator of the backhoe was an employee of the shopping center. The operator told the police investigator that when he released all controls, the bucket swerved to the left striking the victim on his left side and pinning him against the trench wall. The operator called EMS at 11:26AM, who arrived at the scene in 3 minutes. The victim had no pulse or respiration. EMS administered CPR. Ambulance personnel removed the victim from the hole and transported him to a hospital where he was pronounced dead of blunt force injuries to the chest. The manner of death was determined to be accidental. Hospital personnel told a police officer that death was caused by a ruptured myocardium (heart).