Fractures

An employee was supervising a crew who were saw-cutting asphalt to expand a previously cut and excavated trench across a station roadway. The 12-inch excavator bucket had been brought into the work zone to remove the asphalt once the saw-cutting was completed. The bucket was free-standing and unattached to the excavator. The employee stepped backward and the butter bar on the excavator bucket caught the heel of his right foot. The employee started to fall backward when his ankle rolled to the left and he grabbed the top of the bucket to break his fall. As he landed on the ground, the bucket fell on top of his left leg above the ankle, resulting in hospitalization due to a broken leg.