A machine rollover is one of the scariest things an operator in the construction industry can face. In northwest Georgia recently, an excavator operator has lived to tell about one of the more extreme examples you can think of.
While working on the construction of a new overpass on Highway 136, off exit 320 of Interstate 75 near Calhoun, Georgia, the operator and his machine fell 60 feet from the overpass, according to a report from the Calhoun Times.
The incident happened Wednesday morning around 10 a.m. It’s unclear exactly what led to the excavator falling over the side of the overpass.
When paramedics arrived at the road work site, they found the operator with his leg pinned beneath the machine, according to the paper’s report. Firefighters were able to pull the man from beneath the machine and he was taken by helicopter to the hospital with injuries to his leg and his head.
Rollovers have killed at least three other operators in the U.S. this year. Roller-compactor rollovers killed an operator in Florida in August and an operator in Maryland earlier this month. An unspecified machine killed another operator in Iowa earlier this month as well.
We’ve put together a set of tips for operators in the event of a rollovers that you can check out here. Though it’s tempting to jump from the cab during a machine rollover, securing yourself inside is key to surviving such an accident and it appears the worker in Calhoun was able to do just that.
