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DOE/EH-0138 --- Issue No. 90-02 --- 02/90
Employee Hit on Head by Falling Steel Wheel:
Periodic Inspection and an
$8 Part Would
Have Prevented Accident
A DOE employee was hit on the head several weeks ago when a steel wheel fell
off a sectional roll-up door as it closed. When the door was inspected, it
appeared that the wheel had slowly worked its way off the shaft in the 5-year
period since the door had been installed. The other wheels on the door were
checked following the accident. All 17 of them were operating properly.
The employee who was struck by the wheel was not seriously injured. However,
to ensure that a similar accident--one with more serious consequences--did not
occur elsewhere at the facility, all of the roll-up doors on site were
inspected. No other doors at the facility were of the same sectional,
steel-wheeled design, and all were found to be in good operating condition.
Minor Repairs Resolve Problem
A contractor was called in to replace the wheel that had fallen from the door.
He noted that a bracket had been installed incorrectly, but stated that this
shouldn't have caused the accident. The contractor replaced the damaged wheel
and the bracket, aligned the door, and checked the remaining brackets. These
minor repairs remedied the problem, and the door worked properly.
A Minimal Investment of Time and Money Could Prevent Potentially Serious
Accidents
Since the steel wheel that struck the employee apparently had worked loose
over a long period of time, the problem might have been found if the door had
undergone regular, periodic inspections. If the loose wheel had been
discovered earlier, the accident could have been prevented by tightening or
replacing the wheel. It cost only $8 to replace the 1 3/4-inch diameter,
2.5-ounce steel wheel. An $8 part plus a minimal investment in time to
perform periodic inspection is a small price to pay to avoid a potentially
serious accident.
Recommendations:
Virtually all DOE facilities have sectional roll-up doors, rolling-steel
roll-up doors, or both on site. Avoiding a similar accident at other
facilities may be as easy as developing an inspection/preventive maintenance
program for these types of doors that implements the following
recommendations:
- Periodically inspect all site roll-up doors, and make any repairs in a
timely fashion. (Specifically check sectional roll-up doors for loose
wheels or other parts that could fall and injure an employee.)
- Align doors that are out of alignment.
- Replace all brackets and/or other hardware that is not correctly installed.
This publication is one of several serics of bulletins published so that DOE
program managers and contractors can share information about potential
occupational safety problems relevant to DOE operations. For more information
or additional copies, contact Eleanor Crampton, Performance Evaluation
Division, Office of Safety Compliance, Assistant Secretary for Environment,
Safety & Health, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20545; telephone
(301)903-3732.
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