Alert 15-07 Poor Situation Awareness/Line of Fire Incident Results in OSHA Recordable
WHAT HAPPENED:
Two crew members on their first day back were hammering up bolts on nipple up. During the pre-job meeting the two men had anticipated getting hit with the hammer while holding the hammer wrench. As a defense they tied a 3’ long piece of rope around the hammer wrench so that one employee could hold a bind on it while the other man swung the hammer. As the two men worked their way around the stack the man holding the rope ended up in the line of fire as he pulled the rope. On one of the swings the hammer glanced off of the top of the hammer wrench. Before the employee could stop the forward momentum of the hammer, it made contact with the man holding the rope striking him in the mouth. This strike resulted in an injury that met the requirements of an OSHA Recordable.