This is apparently a true story….
This accident report needs an
introduction so you won’t be lost at the beginning. This man was in an
accident at work, so he filled out an insurance claim. The insurance
company contacted him and asked for more information. This was his
letter to the insurance company…..
“I am writing in response
to your request for additional information for block number 3 of the
accident reporting form. I put ‘poor planning’ as the cause of my
accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more fully, so I
trust the following details will be sufficient.”
“I am an
amateur radio operator and on the day of the accident, I was working
alone on the top section of my new eighty foot tower. When I had
completed my work I discovered that I had, over the course of several
trips up the tower, bought up about three hundred pounds of tools and
spare hardware. Rather than carry the now unneeded tools and material
down by hand, I decided to lower the items down in a small barrel by
using a pulley attached to the gin pole at the top of the tower.
Securing
the rope at the ground level, I went to the top of the tower and loaded
the tools and material into the barrel. Then I went back to the ground
and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow descent of the
three hundred pounds of tools and materials that are quiet expensive.
You
will note in block number 11 of the accident reporting form that I only
weigh 155 pounds. Due to my surprise at being jerked off the grounds so
suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope.
Needless to say I proceeded at a rather rapid rate of speed up the side
of the tower. In the vicinity of the forty foot level, I met the barrel
coming down. This explained the broken collar bone and fractured skull.
Slowed
only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until my
fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley system.
Fortunately, by this time, I had regained my presence of mind and was
able to hold onto the rope in spite of my pain. At approximately the
same time, however, the barrel of tools hit the ground and the bottom
fell out of the barrel.
Devoid of the weight of the tools, the
barrel now weighed approximately 20 pounds. I refer you again to my
weight in block number 11 of the claim form. As you might imagine, I
began a rapid descent down the side of the tower. In the vicinity of the
forty foot level, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two
fractured ankles and dislocated knee, the lacerations of my legs and
lower body and the split lip.
The encounter with the barrel
slowed me down enough to lessen my injuries when I fell onto the pile of
tools and fortunately only three vertebrae were cracked and a puncture
wound to my groin from a precariously placed ring spanner.
I am
sorry to report, however that as I lay there on the tools in pain,
unable to stand and watching the empty barrel hit the pulley eighty feet
above me, I again lost my presence of mind and
I let go of the rope….”
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