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Construction Worker Fatally Struck by Steel Sheet Pile Falling from a Vibratory Pile Driver, New York						Print
																Related Pages
										New York Case Report: 15NY032

SUMMARY
On May 29, 2015, at 12:04 p.m., a 50-year-old female employee of a construction company was struck and killed by a steel sheet pile that broke off from a vibratory pile driver at a bridge construction site. At the time of the incident, the decedent was directing traffic while a crew consisting of a foreman, a crane operator, an excavator operator, and an assistant iron worker were conducting a pile driving operation. A vibratory pile driver was used to install sheet piles at the existing bridge abutment.**CONTRIBUTING FACTORS**
Key contributing factors identified in this investigation include:
There was only one main hoist line holding the pile driver because the crane’s auxiliary hoist was not assembled and rigged
The sheet pile was not rigged to the crane through a safety line
Workers were not trained on how to safely operate the vibratory pile driver**RECOMMENDATIONS**
New York FACE investigators concluded that, to help prevent similar occurrences, employers should:
Ensure that piles are always secured to the crane via a safety line for as long as the piles are being held by the crane.
Ensure that all workers are protected from being struck by the load of a crane during pile driving.
Ensure that the hydraulic clamp bolts are inspected and evenly tightened to the appropriate torque as specified by the manufacturer.Construction Worker Fatally Struck by Steel Sheet Pile Falling from a Vibratory Pile Driver, New York [PDF 2,948 KB]
							
					
							Last Reviewed:  May 18, 2023						Source: 	National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
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