Firefighter injured when struck by uncontrolled hose

Employee #1 and two coworkers were on a hose line, fighting a blaze. The pumper tank went dry before the hydrant supply was connected, causing the hose to lose water pressure. The incident commander left the hose line to see what was interrupting the water supply. When the water pressure suddenly returned, Employee 31 and the other coworker lost control of the hose as it whipped up and back. Employee #1 sustained a serious head injury. Several errors contributed to this accident: the driver/pump operator parked the pump truck in a position that blocked his view of the nozzle operation, so he was unable to use inlets on the pump panel side of the truck; the driver/pump operator did not use gate controls prior to receiving the external (hydrant) water supply; the incident commander failed to maintain a minimum of three firefighters equipped with hose straps on the hose line; and the hose crew failed to shut down the nozzle when water pressure was lost.

Source:OSHA.gov