engineering technician killed

[boffintech]

An engineering technician was killed this past Friday at Plant Bowen (Bartow Co. GA, USA). The as yet un-named technician from Contour Engineering of Kennesaw, GA was performing an in-place density test when he was struck and run over by the compactor.

 

[BigH]

Did the compactor have "backing up" beeping (signalling)? One of our contractors in China had a worker squashed when the compactor operator ran over him while he was sleeping under the drum in the shade in 44deg C temperature. Didn't see it but it mustn't have been pretty.

 

[jdonville]

This incident underscores the need for communication between the technician and the operator, and for safety meetings to cover procedures for performing in-situ moisture-density testing. Sucky.

Jeff

 

[henri2]

jdonville, indeed safety meetings are very important. BTW, do you think attending regular safety meetings should be mandatory for CMT personnel who will be on the jobsite?

 

[BigH]

Actually, don't most sites have mandatory safety inductions? Ours do - even if they are in Bahasa Indonesia.

 

[henri2]

Big H, I know many CMT techs and inspectors in the US who have never ever had and training in safety issues.

 

[jdonville]

henri2,

In light of how people keep getting killed in easily preventable accidents on construction sites (let alone elsewhere...), I am forced to admit that developing a culture of safety, including bringing the contractor's folks and the inspection folks together for safety meetings, is a reasonable and preferable way to go.

I'm sure the site owner in this case would have happily chosen that route as well.

To prove that I'm not just shooting my mouth off, I have discussed this incident with our VP of testing services and issued a safety memo to all our testing personnel describing the incident and suggesting ways for them to avoid a similar situation.

Jeff


Jeffrey T. Donville, PE
TTL Associates, Inc.

http://www.ttlassoc.com

The views or opinions expressed by me are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer.

 

[Mccoy]

...had a worker squashed when the compactor operator ran over him while he was sleeping under the drum in the shade in 44 deg C temperature.

BigH, I really hate to joke about this, BUT......
Aren't we sure the worker was not already dead before being squashed. I mean, I would never manage to sleep in such conditions, if alive.

 

[BigH]

No joke - he was sleeping. Any shade in that place was welcomed by the workers. They weren't set up for back-up whistles, etc. On my job here in operational areas, you have to honk your horn once if you plan to start your car, wait 10 seconds, honk your horn twice, turn on the car and wait 10 seconds before you can move. Of course, how many do . . .

 

[JasonG]

Do you have a link to the news article? I'd like to pass it along to our techs.

 

[boffintech]

The article appeared in the Daily Tribune in Cartersville, GA (Bartow Co.). Don't have a link.

 

[JasonG]

Thanks. I found the story here

http://www.daily-tribune.com/NF/omf/daily_tribune/news_story.html?

[rkey=0037941+[cr=

However, it's just an abstract and doesn't give any more info than boffintech posted.