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JICOSH Home > Case Studies > Case No.109
Case No.109

A worker is caught between the screed, which had descended, and the surface of the road during work to clean an asphalt finisher
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[Description of the Accident]

This accident took place during work to remove asphalt, which had adhered to an asphalt finisher being used paving and improvement work for a highway.

When the paving work was finished on the day of the accident, it was decided to carry out cleaning work at the site while leaving the engine of the finisher still running because it is more efficient to remove asphalt that had adhered to the finisher while it was still warm.

The victim crawled under the screed, which is a mechanism of the finisher that lightly compacts the surface when the asphalt mixture is spread on the surface of the road, and was using a spatula to scrape off the asphalt.

When the victim asked the operator of the finisher to turn on the vibrator, the operator went to operator's seat and shifted the compacting switch from OFF to CONTINUE.

At that very moment, the operator heard a scream and looked in the direction of the victim, whose head was caught between the extendable screed, which was located at the left rear of the operator's seat, and the road.
[Causes supposed]

1. Operating procedures, safety measures, etc., for inspection and cleaning had not been prepared.

2. Education for the operator of the finisher was not adequately provided.

3. In carrying out cleaning work on the screed of the finisher, the victim failed to take measures to prevent the screed from descending before entering the space between the screed and the road, such as installing wooden blocks, safety blocks, etc.

4. The victim gave the instructions to the operator after convincing himself that the screed was locked. The operator tripped the compacting switch after also convincing himself that it was locked.
[Type of business] Road construction work
[Caused by] Construction machine
[Type of accident] Caught in
[Number of victims] One fatality


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