Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report for New Jersey: Municipal Utility Worker Falls While Clearing a Clog in a Conveyor Chute

摘要

On December 24, 1999, a 39-year-old municipal utility worker was killed when he fell from a hopper while trying to unclog a sludge conveyor chute. The incident occurred in the dryer area of a sewage treatment plant where sewage sludge is dried to a powder. The damp powdered sludge was being conveyed out of the dryer and into a hopper that directed it down through a fabric tube (sock) to a large Dumpster. Due to the freezing temperatures that morning, the sludge had clogged the sock and backed up into the screw conveyor. A co-worker lifted the victim up to the hopper on a forklift where he stepped onto the hopper and tried to clear the clog with a shovel handle. After working on the machine for several minutes, the co-worker heard the victim yell before he fell from the hopper and struck his head against the side of the Dumpster.