812 OSHA Focus Four Hazards

Caught Between

You can be caught or pinned between equipment and a solid object. Examples include being caught between:

• a wall or another piece of equipment
• materials being stacked or stored and a solid object
• shoring and construction materials in a trench

Examples

Read the following accidents and think about how each could have been prevented.

• An employee was working from an aerial lift, which was in the "up" position, under an I-beam. He accidentally came into contact with the "drive/steer" lever, which made the manlift move. The employee was killed when he was pinned between the I-beam and manlift control panel.
• Contractor was operating a backhoe when an employee attempted to walk between the swinging superstructure of the backhoe and a concrete wall. The employee approached the backhoe from the operator's blind side; the superstructure crushed him against the wall.
• Four workers were in an excavation approximately 9 feet wide, 32 feet long and 7 feet deep. Steel plates being used as shoring, were placed vertically against the north and south walls of the excavation at a 30-degree angle [no horizontal braces between the plates]. The steel plate on the south wall tipped over, pinning (and killing) an employee between the steel plate and the pipe casing. The backhoe was being operated adjacent to the excavation.

Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.