A 77-year-old Massachusetts man injured his spine and had to be taken to the hospital after the machine he was working on “violently jolted,” the Cohasset Police Department said.
The man had been operating an excavator with a hammer drill that was breaking apart large rocks when it slipped off one of the rocks Thursday, police said in a Facebook post. The machine was then “violently jolted” and “slammed down,” police said.
Around 11 a.m., the Cohasset Fire Department paramedics were able to stabilized the man and remove him from the operator’s seat. He was then taken to the hospital by ambulance.
The police department shared photos of the man being removed from the excavator and put onto a spinal board.
Cohasset Police detectives and the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are investigating the incident.
