Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1494946.015 - Illini Environmental, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Fairview Heights Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 3:30 p.m. on September 22, 2020, an employee was working for a firm that handled waste management and recycling for companies. It processed non-hazardous and special waste streams. A truck driver was at a wastewater treatment facility. He was draining waste milk from a milk tank trailer into a designated disposal area. The trailer would not drain, so the driver contacted the employee for assistance. The employee joined the driver at the disposal site to investigate. The employee determined that debris was preventing the milk from exiting the trailer's rear discharge valve. To remove the debris from inside the trailer, the employee obtained a PVC pipe that the site kept. It was equipped with a dip cup at one end. The employee knelt on the trailer platform at the rear dome lid opening and reached into the trailer with the scoop. In this manner he could clear the debris from the inside of the trailer around the valve. Once the liquid was flowing through the valve, the employee stood up. There was an overhead electric power line energized at 13.8 kv near front of the semi-trailer truck. The employee contacted it or came close enough to it to receive a shock from it. Possibly, he received a static electric shock. In reaction, the employee fell approximately 9.8 feet (3.0 meters). His back was broken, and he was paralyzed. He was hospitalized for two or more days. Fall protection measures were not in place.

Keywords: Back, Broken Bone, E GI III (unsafe position), Electric Conductor, Electric Shock, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Fall Protection, Fracture, Overhead Power Line, Paralysis, Power Lines, Tank Truck, Trailer, Unsafe Position, Vertebra, Work at Elevation