OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #221558323

FLORIDA RIGGING & HYDRAULICS

RIVIERA BEACH, FL— 2023-04-24T00:00:00

Event: Abdomen, Boat, Cardiovasc System, Climbing, Concussion, Defective Equipment, Dislocated, Fall, Fall From Elevation, Fall Protection, Fracture, Head, Hoisting Mechanism, Internal Bleeding, Internal Injuries, Laceration, Loss Of Blood, Mast, Sheared, Work Surface
NAICS: 811490
Inspection type: Federal Agency
Activity number: #346658263
Employer profile: FLORIDA RIGGING & HYDRAULICS
Summary number: 221558323
Report ID: 0418800

Event description

Employee dies from internal injuries after fall from mast

Investigation abstract

At 10:00 a.m. on April 24, 2023, an employee working as a sailor/deckhand for a household good repair company was being lifted to the top of a mast to replace the halyard. The employee reached the top of the mast where a coworker secured the employee's halyard (security rigging) to the boat's wench and placed the brake on the halyard. At that moment, the head stay, which holds the mast in the upright position to prevent it from falling backwards, broke away from the anchor point at the top of the mast. The mast fell backward with the employee attached. The employee died from a split aorta and massive abdominal hemorrhaging due to the 40 foot fall and impact with the ground.

Victim

#1 Fatality Age 55 M

Event type
5

Occupation code
829

Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.