Police, OSHA probe construction death in Westport
Updated August 24, 2016 5:05 PM
Police say independent contractor Herbert Grant, a 69-year-old Stratford resident, was standing by a truck on 1 Country Lane in Westport when he was hit by a chute coming out of a concrete truck. (8/24/16)
WESTPORT - Westport police say they are working with state and federal investigators to look into a construction accident that claimed the life of a local man on Tuesday.
Police say independent contractor Herbert Grant, a 69-year-old Stratford resident, was standing by a truck on 1 Country Lane in Westport when he was hit by a chute coming out of a concrete truck. They are referring to the pumping truck boom.
Police say the chute hit Grant on the upper part of his body and that he died from traumatic injuries. They say he was working on a residential construction project at the site.
They say state police and OSHA are involved in the investigation. They have yet to determine whether this was the result of an employee's mistake or a mechanical failure.
Concrete transit mixing or ready-mix trucks are widely used in the construction and paving industries for preparing and transporting concrete mixtures to desired construction sites where the concrete is discharged into prepared forms or other carriers.
Discharge is normally accomplished by reversing mixing drum rotation so that concrete spills from the top drum charging opening. In order to guide concrete to prepared forms, equivalent molding structures, or other receiving containers, mixing trucks in commercial use today typically employ a main discharge chute having an ability to pivot both vertically and laterally.
A chute may or may not have one or more extensions. In order to withstand stresses which are created by the discharge of heavy wet concrete (approximately 4,000 pounds or 1800 kg per yard), discharge chute components need to possess a great deal of strength and are typically made of rather heavy gauge trough-shaped metal segments.
The position of the chute typically must be adjusted often during discharge operations. Vertical adjustment is accomplished with the help of attached hydraulic cylinders, however, lateral operation of the chutes has been accomplished through manual positioning and the weight of the chute and the concrete material makes the positioning difficult during use. Additionally, chute operation requires virtually the full-time attention of one crew member, in this case the dead worker. The question here is whether he was hit by the vertical or horizontal movement of the chute.
Each 5-foot chute extension weights 50 pounds (if made of steel). Thus, the worker was hit by very significant force (if we include the weight of the wet cement).
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(WFSB photo) WESTPORT, CT (WFSB) -
Boom strike proves fatal at Westport construction site
Posted: Aug 24, 2016 9:38 AM EST Updated: Aug 24, 2016 9:38 AM EST
By Rob Polansky
A Stratford man was killed in what investigators called a construction accident Tuesday in Westport.
Police identified the victim as 69-year-old Herbert Grant.
They said Grant was working at a construction project at a home on Country Lane in Westport.
He was supervising the pouring of concrete when he was struck in the upper body by a boom that extends off of the front of the concrete truck. This was a pumper truck that was pumping concrete into the house. Most of the time the hose will swing and the operator and the worker must be very careful into staying away from the hose until it starts pumping concrete.
I've been pumping concrete 30 years all you got to do is back away from the tube until the starts flowing. And you should have a rope tied to it so you can pull it back to you should it swing akwardly in the wrong direction. Don't rely on the operator totally.
Police said he was transported to Norwalk Hospital where he died as a result of his injuries.
Grant was an employee of Suzio-York Hill Asphalt and Concrete Suppliers out of Meriden.
The investigation into the exact cause and manner of Grant's death will be determined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.Police ID Man Who Died After Construction Accident in Westport, CT
Trapped air can compress to hundreds of pounds per square inch of pressure inside a pumper hose. Its release can cause a hose to whip violently.
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AUGUST 24, 2016
A 69-year-old Stratford man is dead after construction equipment hit him during work at a Westport home on Tuesday and the office of the chief medical examiner is investigating the cause of his death.
Police said 69-year-old Herbert Grant, of Stratford, was supervising as concrete was being poured for a construction project at a home on Country Lane when the boom on the front of the concrete truck hit him.
Grant, who was a private contractor hired by a concrete company to deliver concrete for the job, was unresponsive at the scene, according to police.
First responders provided medical aid until Westport EMS arrived to transport Grant to Norwalk Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The chief medical examiner is investigating the cause of Grant's death.
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