Fatal Accident Circumstances and Epidemiology (FACE) Report: Line Mechanic Diesafter Falling from Aerial Bucket Truck, Virginia, August 31, 1992

摘要

A line mechanic died after falling 37 feet from the bucket of an aerial lifttruck after a winch line failed. At the time of the accident he and a coworker had been assigned to remove a broken tree limb from a residential powerline. The victim entered the lift truck bucket without attaching the safety belt and lanyard to the anchor point on the boom. He positioned the end of the truck boom next to the tree limb. Instead of following company procedure and using a sling, he passed the end of the 7/16 inch woven nylon winch line around the limb and formed a choker hitch by attaching the line's eyetype end termination to the line with a shackle, and attempted to lift the partially split limb. As this was not successful, he attempted to reposition the boom to change direction of the lift. The winch line failed, and the boom sprung upward, throwing the victim out of the bucket. It was recommended that employers ensure that appropriate fall protection equipment is available and correctly used, that employees follow standard safe operating procedures for the tasks they are performing, and that safe work procedures address the manner in which load lines of hoisting equipment are attached to the load so that the full strength of the load line is available and the lifting capacity of the equipment is not exceeded.