Case report: 71-238-2023
Issued by: Washington State Mortality Assessment and Control Program
Report date: May 15, 2023
A 54-year-old worker was killed when the raised boom of a backhoe swung and crushed him against one of the machine’s retracted stabilizers. He had worked for his employer, a new home construction contractor and subcontractor on the site, for two years. On the day of the incident, the worker was at a work site where new single-family homes were being built. First he used the backhoe to dig around an electrical junction box. After doing this, he used the backhoe loader to place gravel around the box. He then moved the backhoe to the street where he parked it, leaving the engine running and the backhoe boom raised. He got out of the cab and walked to the back of the backhoe. Although no one saw what happened next, investigators determined that while the operator was standing at the back of the cab where the backhoe boom was attached, he reached into the cab to retrieve a metal tool called a post librador. While doing this, he apparently dropped the mast on one of the two pedals that controlled the rotation of the backhoe boom. This caused the boom to swing sideways towards him, pinning and crushing him between the boom and one of the machine’s two outriggers.
To avoid similar events:
- Lower the boom to a safe position with the bucket on the ground and shut off the machine before lowering for any reason.
- Never place tools, parts or other objects in the cab that could activate the pedals or other controls.
- Never stand in the pinch point of the boom of a running or operating backhoe.
