Worker in bucket of truck that rolled taken to hos

[SirTreeRat]

http://www.oxfordpress.com/news/oxford-n...owComments=true

11-16-2009 injury

Worker in bucket of truck that rolled taken to hospital

FAIRFIELD TWP. — A Butler County Engineer’s Office worker was transported to Atrium Medical Center this morning, Nov. 16 after a county bucket truck fell onto its side with him in the bucket.

County Engineer Gregory Wilkens said Aaron Broughton was the worker, and was conscious when taken to the hospital but complaining of hip and shoulder soreness.

The truck fell into a home’s front yard at 5337 Liberty Fairfield Road, just north of Ohio 4, at roughly 10:20 a.m.

It rolled onto the passenger side, with the fully extended bucket landing roughly 15 feet from a home’s front porch.

Broughton is part of a seven-person tree trimming crew that was parked and cutting limbs over Liberty Fairfield Road, Wilkens said. He said Broughton fell roughly 30 feet inside the fully extended bucket after the pads under the outriggers on the truck apparently slipped.

“The truck just started slowly overturning,” Wilkens said.

Liberty Fairfield Road is closed and traffic is snarled at the intersection of Ohio 4. It may not be clear for up to an hour as emergency crews attempt to remove the truck, according to emergency officials.

 

[treeman85]

I always have that fear of that happening to me or evean a co-worker.couple of times when a co-worker has set up the bucket and starts going to work and then i'll just happen to walk by the truck and notice that the outrigger on the opposite side is about an 1 1/2 off the ground because they dont put enough pressure on the outrigger on the side that they are mainly working off of.if i'm working off of the driver side then i'll put that outrigger down even more just to compensate the weight and bounching of the bucket.its weird cause i just had a nightmare that our 75' bucket rolled over like in the story above.

 

[Daniel]

That does not appear to have been the problem...

Looks like the grade is slightly downhill just over edge of the road... The outrigger pad was probably laid on the uneven grade and as the weight went on the outrigger, gravity did its thing, and the outrigger slid down right off the pad and onto the ground which could not hold the weight... Apparently the outrigger sunk into the ground slowly enough to not kill the worker...

Bucket trucks should carry enough wood to set up cribbing on uneven grades to prevent this from happening.. Just like a crane sets up... An outrigger pad alone is not enough!!!

 

[treeman85]

yes i completely understand their problem,i was just expressing my fears and past experience.

 

[dieselcutter]

Thats probably what happened. That exact thing happened to a guy around here that I've done some contract climbing for. Thankfully he wasn't hurt!

 

[Fairfield]

In Fairfield Twp. and on Fairfield Rd...... thats just not right....

 

[tomthetreeman]

[ QUOTE ]
In Fairfield Twp. and on Fairfield Rd...... thats just not right....

[/ QUOTE ]

Not fair, either.

Sorry, couldn't help it.

-Tom

 

[Rookieclimber]

What is the standard for setting up outriggers? What im saying is how much should the truck be lifted before there is proper pressure on the pads?

 

[classictruckman]

I go by when the weight starts to come off the front axle but not so much that the tires comes up in the air.

 

[WLL]

you put the out-riggers down as far as you can without letting the wheels leave the ground. the truck must be leveled & chocked b4 you operate the boom. out-rigger pads must be used!! crib when needed, and make sure the whole foot of the out-rigger is in contact on the pads and or cribbing. keep things level!!! avoid bouncing the truck!!! stay off of man-hole covers, grates and any other areas that the truck can punch threw!!!! small and flimsy out-rigger pads will kill you on a soft spot or thin ground!!! use cones, flaggers, strobes, and all the ppe required to operate the bucket!! dont fuk around, pay attention, and use good communication!! be completely aware of your surroundings!!! have a rope with you O yea, KEEP THE THING LEVEL!!!!! im sure there is more, but ill start with that.

 

[Rookieclimber]

i was taught lift the truck at least 3-4 inches, that keeps the tires on the ground, I was just wondering how others do it.

 

[whiz]

WLL...excellent post man thank you. One question. What are cribs? Are they a pad of sorts that the o.r. can rest all the way inside of? Whiz

 

[classictruckman]

Cribbing is just blocking or plasitic mats or what ever it takes to get the area where the outrigger is going to be placed: level, firm, and high enough to get the truck level.

 

[pajeepman]

I was on a job when a bucket went over. Pad sunk into the ground. Luckily there was a tree to the side of the bucket and the truck did not go over all the way like this one. The bucket still hit the ground. Operator said it went over very slow until the last 15'. We lucked out in that there was a backhoe on the job and it was able to get the truck back on all 4. I was up a hill chipping brush and I looked down the hill and saw the front of the truck in the air and no bucket. The other guy chipping with his back towards the truck said I turned white, I was scared. I ran down the hill so fast I almost couldn't stop without falling down, operator was still in the bucket, I must have just missed it going over. A few broken ribs was the worst of the damage to the operator. truck was OK just abent headache rack, as was the boom, we had it inspected and throughly checked out.