Electrician

The miner was in progress of storing electrical cable into a cable tray. The south bracket some how came loose. When the south side of the cable tray came down it struck the ladder on the east side causing the ladder to fall towards the west. The miner tried to compensate for the fall by leaning to the west. He then fell from the ladder hitting the ground.

On October 17, 2013, Fernando Rivera, Journeyman Electrician, age 52, was seriously injured when he fell from a step ladder approximately six feet onto a concrete pad below. Rivera was standing on the ladder pulling electrical cable into a cable tray located on the outside of the building. The cable tray struck the step ladder after a mounting bracket broke loose, causing Rivera to fall onto the concrete pad. Rivera was transported to a hospital where he died on October 18, 2013, as a result of his injuries. Rivera was wearing a hard hat at the time of the accident. The accident occurred because the two self-tapping screws used to mount the cable tray on the right side were not long enough to support the cable tray when electrical cable was placed in it. Both self-tapping screws on the right side mounting bracket pulled out of the sheet metal. The bottom screw also pulled out of a steel beam. The weight of the electrical cable and the physical loading of the cable put additional stress on the cable tray mounts, causing the mounting bracket screws to separate from the sheet metal and steel beam. Additionally, the step ladder was positioned parallel to the building and the victim was working perpendicular to the ladder, placing his body at an angle to the ladder while performing the work. GENERAL INFORMATION Lebec Cement Plant, a quarry and cement plant owned by National Cement Company of California, Inc., is located 8 miles southeast of Lebec, Kern County, California. The principal operating officials are James Leong, Vice-President of Operations/ Manager/Director and Laurent Meurette, Plant Manager. The mine and cement plant operate two 12-hour shifts a day, 7 days a week. Total employment is 89 persons. Limestone is drilled and blasted from multiple benches in the quarry. The material is loaded into haul trucks with front-end loaders and transported to the nearby cement plant where it is crushed, dried, heated, and processed into cement. The finished product is stored in silos for bulk shipment to customers. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) completed the last regular inspection at this operation September 16, 2013.

1. Management did not ensure that the cable tray was secured to the wall of the MCC building when it was installed.

   Corrective action: The cable tray has been removed from the MCC building.

2. The step ladder was positioned parallel to the building and the victim was working perpendicular to the ladder, placing his body at an angle to the ladder while performing the work.

   Corrective action: All persons were re-trained regarding ladder safety.

Findings from MSHA's final investigation report, which supersedes the preliminary narrative above.

Activity at time of incident

Climb Scaffolds, Ladders

Subunit / location

MILL OPERATION/PREPARATION PLANT

Accident type

Fall from ladders

Source of injury

FLOOR,WALKING SURF-NOT UG

Nature of injury

MULTIPLE INJURIES

Body part affected

HEAD,NEC

Total mining experience

5 years

Experience at this mine

5 years

Experience in this job

5 years

Degree of injury

FATALITY