Dive brief:
- Fermilab’s $1 billion accelerator project in Batavia, Illinois, has been stalled since a worker fell two stories on May 25, according to a accident investigation report of the Department of Energy.
- The accident led to a lawsuit against Fermi Research Alliance, the site operator, Whittaker Construction, the general contractor, and subcontractors Harris Rebar Placing and Nucor Harris Rebar Midwest.
- James Daniels, a subcontracted iron worker on the project, fell from the top of a two-story wall on his first day on the job, suffering head trauma and several broken bones, according to documents filed in the Court of Cook County Circuit.
Diving knowledge:
Ironworkers prepare to attach a rebar template to the side of a form wall on May 25 at the lab site.
That’s when Daniels fell approximately 23 feet, hitting a diagonal before landing on the concrete slab below, according to the DOE accident report.
Co-workers responded to Daniels within seconds of the fall, according to the report. But because the nearest first-aid kit was about 150 yards from the crash site on a construction trailer, workers used a bandana to clean the blood from Daniels’ mouth.
If the first-aid kit had been closer to the scene, it’s more likely that workers would have used sealed and disinfected items from the kit, including gloves that could have reduced their exposure to blood-borne pathogens, according to the accident report
When the paramedics arrived at the scene, due to the severity of the injuries, they opted for an air transport by helicopter to the hospital to save time. But that decision ultimately cost Daniels roughly 25 minutes longer than if he had been transported to the hospital by ambulance, according to the accident investigation report. Daniels was later in a medically induced coma for nearly a month, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The report also identified several safety steps that were not followed at the site, including:
- Daniels did not use the fall protection PPE he was wearing as required.
- The definition of work activities was not clear or specific, and lacked the necessary identification of hazards and controls.
- The multiple subcontracts and subcontractor relationships did not include a methodology to establish a clear flow of security requirements.
- Monitoring at multiple levels did not recognize these errors.
- Omissions and incomplete security documents resulted in unapproved versions of documents being used for daily work activities.
Taken together, these deficiencies suggest systemic weakness and a lack of attention to detail in the management of project documentation among on-site project teams, according to the accident report.
These root causes, if corrected, would prevent the same or similar accidents from happening again in the future, according to the DOE.
Whittaker Construction declined to comment on the accident when contacted by Construction Dive. Attempts to reach Fermi Research Alliance, Harris Rebar Placement and Nucor Harris Rebar Midwest were unsuccessful.
Kevin Bomstad, Whittaker’s senior project manager, told the Tribune, “We’re in the process of working toward a reboot,” according to a Sept. 14 article. “It was a serious accident, and I think we’re all trying to cross our T’s and dot our i’s. Obviously, we’re eager to get back to work. But we understand that there are certain measures that need to be taken in all parts”.
The Proton Enhancement Plan II, a 10-year, $978 million project funded by the Department of Energy, which owns Fermi National Accelerator Lab, is an essential upgrade to Fermilab’s accelerator complex. Ultimately, the project is expected to improve groundbreaking experiments in particle physics by creating a more powerful accelerator.
