Opinion ID: 2830346
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Accident and Aftermath

Text: After the rock-crushing plant was sold in 1980, it changed hands several times before being acquired in 1999 by Harper Sand and Gravel, Kirkbride’s employer. At some point before Kirkbride’s injury in August 2008 the plant’s crossmember was removed, and its warning placards may have been lost as well. Harper modified the plant by replacing its original diesel engine with an electric motor, reducing from 16 to 8 the number of v-belts transferring power from the motor to the flywheels, and replacing the feeder’s hydrostatic drive with an electric one. Harper requested from Terex a complete set of manuals for the plant; and in June 2008 (two months before Kirkbride’s injury) Harper ordered a new Terex toggle plate for the crushing plant and installed it within a few weeks. On August 2, 2008, Harper employees were running the crushing plant when they noticed that a large boulder had become stuck in the crushing chamber, just above the jaws. They shut down the feeder and the jaw crusher and attempted, unsuccessfully, to 6 pull out the boulder with a chain pulled by a front-end loader. A supervisor noticed their efforts and called in Kirkbride, a front-end-loader operator, to help. The workers turned the crusher back on and attempted to break up the boulder by lowering a 19-inch metal “ripper tooth” on a chain into the jaws. The tooth broke off the chain and fell into the crushing chamber, wedging into the gap at the bottom and jamming the jaws. The v-belts driving the crusher began to smoke and squeal as the jaws futilely attempted to crush the tooth. The toggle plate did not break. The workers turned off the power and finally managed to remove the boulder by having Kirkbride pull it out with a chain attached to a track hoe. But the ripper tooth remained stuck. Kirkbride brought an acetylene torch, climbed into the crusher, and began cutting the tooth. With a loud bang the tooth shot out of the jaws, striking Kirkbride’s neck and jaw as it flew 25 feet into the air. A few days after Kirkbride’s injury the plant was put back into operation without changing the toggle plate then or at any time later while the plant remained in Harper’s control. Harper sold the plant in 2010, and it was inspected by the parties in July 2011. Critically, although Terex toggle plates for this kind of plant are designed to be just 1⅞ inches to 2 inches thick, the toggle plate found inside the plant was 2 inches thick.