On November 13, 2010, a 42 year- old contract mechanic with 23 years of experience died at a sand and gravel operation. The victim was underneath a front-end loader, with the engine running, checking a hydraulic fluid leak when the machine moved and rolled over him. The machine was parked on a slight grade, the bucket was raised off the ground, and no wheel chocks were in place.
Best Practices
- Train persons to recognize work place hazards.
- Establish safe work procedures before a task is performed and ensure that the safe work procedures are followed.
- Set the park brake and securely block equipment and components against hazardous motion at all times while performing repair or maintenance work.
- Do not rely on hydraulic systems to hold mobile equipment stationary during repairs or maintenance.
- Lower the bucket to the ground when parking mobile equipment.
Click here for: MSHA Preliminary Report (pdf), MSHA Investigation Report(pdf), Overview(powerpoint), Overview (pdf).