In Michigan, Fatal Machinery Accident

Jack J. Barron, Jr., Bannerman Farms contract truck driver, age 30, was fatally injured at about 10:50 a.m. on December 22, 1995, when he was pinned under a conveyor frame that was being loaded onto his truck trailer. Barron had seven years experience as a truck driver.

The MSHA field office in Lansing, Michigan was notified of the accident by a telephone call from Daniel F. Clark, Region Operations Manager, American Aggregates of Michigan, at 12:30 p.m. on December 22, 1995. The investigation was started the same day.

The accident occurred in the North Pit of the Oxford Plant #816 where two portable conveyors had been dismantled and prepared for transport. The conveyor section frame involved in the accident was 40 feet in length, 4 feet square, and constructed of 3 inch angle irons. There were fourteen, 36 inch top idler assemblies and four bottom return idlers attached to the frame. The conveyor section was equipped with a gathering hopper and an impact box and the total weight was about 5,900 pounds.

The truck being loaded was a 4300 Transstar, pulling a fifth-wheel lowboy trailer. The trailer was 30 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 25 inches high.

The conveyors were being loaded with a 1981 International Harvester S-180 utility hoist truck, model number 1854, VIN number IHTAA1852BHA31882. The truck was equipped with an Altec Industries three stage boom hoist, Model No. D820-T, manufactured in Birmingham, Alabama. The truck had two outriggers mounted on the rear of the truck for stability during hoisting. The boom was capable of extending 36 feet and was controlled by Joy sticks and a foot pedal located at the rear of the truck. The truck was owned and being operated by Douglas Bates, vice-president of Deltaic Welding Inc. when the accident occurred.

A « inch, 6x25 fiber core wire rope, 80 feet in length, was installed on the boom hoist. It was attached to a weighted Crosby swivel hook by two U bolt and saddle clamps manufactured in Korea. A sling consisting of two, 3/4 inch by 10 foot wire ropes attached to a steel ring in the middle and hooks on each end, was used to hoist the conveyor sections.

The conveyor was elevated approximately 7 feet above ground over the trailer edge when the wire rope hook attachment failed, allowing it to fall.

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