Safety Alert for Supervisors: 3/9/26

Incident summary A worker turned his back to a hazardous task and was talking on his cellphone when he was fatally struck by a mechanical arm that had broken off a machine. What happened A two-person work crew was assigned to install wooden posts that were five inches in diameter and about seven feet in length. One worker lifted the posts and positioned them in a hole in the ground while the other staffer used a hydraulically powered mechanical post driver attached to a skid steer to drive the wooden posts into the hole. About four hours into the job, one worker positioned another post in a hole and began walking toward the area where the next post would be placed. The man was about 10 feet from the post driver with his back to the work area. He was talking on his cellphone. Meanwhile, the other staffer was having trouble driving the last post into the ground. Without warning, the mechanical arm and the head of the equipment broke away from the device’s mounting bracket, which caused the arm to detach. The mechanical arm fell toward the other worker, who didn’t know he was in danger because he was talking on his cellphone. The arm struck the man in the back and knocked him to the ground. His body was grotesquely contorted at the waist with his head and torso touching the front of his legs. Coworkers rushed over to assist him, but they could see right away that he was dead. Findings The company shouldn’t have let employees use their cellphones while handling hazardous tasks. Had the victim not been talking on his cellphone, he likely would’ve heard the arm break away from the machine and been able to move to a safe location before he was fatally struck. Worker talking on cellphone unaware of looming danger Man grotesquely contorted after he's struck by mechanical arm You make the call: Supervisor claims it wasn’t feasible for staffer to wear gear “ I t wasn’t feasible for that crew member to wear fall protection gear while he was laboring atop a railcar, because there was nowhere for him to attach his safety harness and lanyard,” said George, the supervisor. “That’s a pretty weak argument,” replied Tammy, the compliance officer, “considering that your unprotected worker lost his balance and fell off the railcar. He suffered some pretty severe injuries.” “The injury incident was unfortunate,” said George. “However, the employee couldn’t have used fall protection because there were no stationary structures nearby for him to set up an anchor point to which he could’ve attached his gear.” Changed procedures “The railcar was positioned about 300 yards from a loading facility,” said Tammy. “You could’ve changed your procedures so that railcars were moved into the stationary structure before anyone was allowed to stand atop railcars. There are many potential anchor points within the loading facility. I’m citing you for violating our fall protection regulation.” “It would significantly slow down our operation if we were forced to move all our railcars into a stationary structure before anyone could climb atop them,” said George. “It might slow things down,” said Tammy, “but you have a legal obligation to keep your people safe.” Keep people safe “Of course we want to keep our people safe,” said George. “However, we can’t institute safety procedures that aren’t feasible. We’ll challenge your citation.” Did the company win? 2 Safety News Why you should protect workers from chemicals that cause hearing loss. 2 Quick Ideas Find out why operators of utility terrain vehicles must slow down at turns. 3 Legal Developments Staffer’s ear sliced off because boss didn’t alert him to tool modification. 3 Horror Stories Crew member trapped underneath rubble after gigantic crane collapses. 4 Safety Meeting Every year in the U.S., 1,200 workers die from traumatic brain injuries. In this issue ■ Make your call, then go to page 3 for the court’s ruling. March 9, 2026 SafetyAlert FOR SUPERVISORS The No. 1 source of actionable information to help supervisors keep their people safe Including: Supervisor’s Safety Toolbox