Construction Worker Crushed
Under Dumptruck Box

During the fall of 1999, a 53-year-old construction worker was killed after he unloaded sand from a dump truck. He partially raised the box of his truck to dump out a portion of wet sand at a work location, then leaned under the box to manually trip the hydraulic linkage to bring the box down. The hydraulic linkage was located at the hydraulic pump, behind the cab between the main frames of the truck. This action was apparently a habit to save some time from walking around the truck to push the dump lever inside the truck cab. However, this time, because of the heavy load of sand, and because the box was only partially raised, the truck box came down immediately pinning the man between the box and the frame of the dump truck. The man suffered massive head injuries and was dead at the scene. The truck driver had several years of experience with machinery and was the lead man for the small construction company, responsible for vehicle maintenance and repair. The old truck was determined to be in normal operating condition.

1. Workers should use proper machine controls rather than actuating machine functions at hazardous locations.

• Actuating the hydraulics under the raised box is hazardous and should never be done.
• This habit was probably a more accurate method of measuring how much had been dumped.
• When working alone, workers are tempted to develop dangerous shortcuts.

2. Employers should train and supervise workers adequately to ensure that safe procedures are followed.

• Co-workers had observed the victim operating the dump box hydraulics manually before.
• This work practice should be brought to the attention of the worker and his supervisor.
• Since the victim was the crew foreman, other workers were probably unwilling to say anything.

3. Manufacturers of dump trucks should consider options to discourage unsafe use of hydraulic controls.

• The hydraulic linkage was easily accessible from the sides of the truck when the box was raised.
• It may be possible to prevent such behaviors by placing the linkage where it cannot be easily reached or enclosing the linkage.