27 incidents & 2 updates (11/01/12) – Safety Engineering (SAFTENG)

2012 Fatality Tracker

Electrical

(2011 = 81)

(2010 = 90)

(2009 = 100)

Forklift/Manlift

Mobile Equipment

(2011 = 84)

(2010 = 110)

(2009 = 88)

Mining

(2011 = 248)

(2010 = 480)

(2009 = 586)

Explosions

230

(2011 = 218)

(2010 = 246)

(2009 = 302)

Cranes

(2011 = 50)

(2010 = 50)

(2009 = 82)

Falls

(2011 = 123)

(2010 = 139)

(2009 = 172)

(2008 = 250)

Work Zone

(2011 = 54)

(2010 = 50)

(2009 = 69)
(2008 = 69)

Trenching

(2011 = 36)

(2010 = 54)

(2009 = 48)
(2008 = 90)

LOTO/Guards

(2011 = 64)

(2010 = 51)

(2009 = 68)
(2008 = 66)

Confined Space

(2011 = 62)

(2010 = 112)

(2009 = 73)
(2008 =137)

The numbers above are obtained from the news sources used to compile the Incident Alerts. They are NOT official numbers published by any government agency. They are derived SOLELY from my search engine search strings.

INDUSTRIAL

CRUSHING FATALITY Accident at aluminum manufacturer kills 1 (an accident at an aluminum manufacturer left one person, 21, dead and another injured after a large metal rack they were moving fell off its track and pinned both men under sheet metal about 3 p.m. – worker was pronounced dead as a result of his injuries, while another worker at the factory was severely injured and sent to a local hospital – several workers were moving a large metal rack on guiding wheels when it dislodged and fell off – at the time, the cart was stacked with aluminum sheets and pipe)

SAWMILL AMPUTATION Sawmill worker cuts hand in freak accident (a sawmill worker, 22, nearly severed his left hand – the worker was cutting a plank using a machine around 10am – his scream of pain alerted his colleagues who immediately came to his aid – he was reported to be in stable condition)

HOTWORK FLASH FIRE during POST EMERGENCY OPERATIONS Evacuations ordered after fire at derailment site; workers hurt (people who live and work within 1.2 miles of Monday’s train derailment site were ordered to evacuate again afternoon after a fire injured five contractors working on a derailed train car containing butadiene – the contractor was in very critical condition, a second contractor was in critical condition and a third contractor was in serious condition – two others refused treatment at the scene – the contractors were using a blowtorch to try to separate a derailed car containing butadiene from another car when chemical vapors accidentally ignited – “The workers that are here are highly trained, and this is one of those accidents that occurs, unfortunately,” he said – 1,800 gallons of water were flowing on the insulated, double-walled tanker car to keep the situation in check – adjacent cars were also being cooled – in addition to the evacuations that were ordered, a “shelter in place” warning was issued for people within five-miles of the derailment)

LINEMAN ELECTROCUTED Ontario Hydro Worker Killed While Repairing Sandy Damages (a worker has passed away due to an accident while he was working to repair a damaged power line smashed by superstorm Sandy – the worker accidently electrocuted himself when he was fixing a downed power line – the victim used a bucket truck for repairing a fallen power line when he accidently electrocuted himself around 10 a.m.)

UPDATE on ARM AMPUTATION Oregon worker’s arm reattached (the 40-year-old was working at a fence plant on Oct. 22 when his arm was severed at the elbow – his co-workers acted fast – one of them applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding – someone else retrieved his arm – Fire Department medics arrived within minutes, and a REACH helicopter flew the worker to a Medical Center – it will take six months to a year for the nerves in his arm to regenerate, but his surgeon is optimistic that he will eventually regain at least some sensation and the ability to use his fingers – surgeons had to sequentially sew and assemble all parts of his arm back together, starting with the arteries and veins and moving on to the bones, nerves, muscles and, lastly, the skin)

LOTO/GUARDING FATALITY w/ CONVEYOR BELT Third worker dies on coal ship (a third death on a coal ship has been uncovered – the ship first came under the spotlight in September after it was reported that two crew members had died in unusual circumstances – the first worker, the cook, disappeared from the ship while it was sailing – soon after another crewman, an engineer, died aboard the ship just before it was due to dock – now another crew member of the ship, the superintendent, has been killed while it was unloading coal – he is understood to have been crushed in a conveyor accident – it has been reported that the crushed worker had actually boarded the ship to oversee safety onboard – it took rescuers two hours to retrieve his body from the conveyor belt)

ELECTRICAL Electrical fire at Bethlehem Township, Pa. warehouse burns worker, forces site evacuation (an electrical contractor working on restoring power suffered electrical burns after workers failed to shut down the generator that was powering the site – the worker suffered burns when a flash fire broke out during electrical work about 9:50 a.m.)

PROPANE FLASH FIRE Chico Ag Accident Injures Worker (a man is fighting for his life after he was badly burned in a propane accident around 11:00 a.m. – there was flash fire between a propane delivery truck and a propane storage tank on the property – the victim is a delivery driver for a propane company – he was airlifted to a burn unit)

OIL FIELD EXPLOSION Trucking company worker injured in oilfield explosion (an oilfield worker suffered severe burns after a tank battery exploded – he was flown to a hospital by helicopter – cause of the explosion remained under investigation – the burned man was the only person at the scene)

UPDATE on REFINERY FIRE Shell fined $80k for work safety lapses (refinery was fined $80,000 for lapses in workplace safety that led to a 32-hour fire in September last year – while draining a pipe, contractors had used a method that allowed flammable gases to accumulate in the air – the pipe was connected to a tank of naphtha, a volatile liquid, and passed through a pump house where petroleum products were mixed – contractors had used metal trays to collect the naphtha flowing out of the tank – prosecutors from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said that the release of naphtha in this manner not only allowed volatile vapours to escape but also led to an accumulation of static charges, which might have produced a spark to ignite the naphtha vapours – the refinery had also failed to deploy sufficient portable gas monitors that would have detected the dangerous levels of flammable vapours – however, prosecutors noted that the refinery did conduct a total of five tests with portable gas monitors before the fire broke out at about 1pm on Sept 28 – it was put out around 9pm the next day)

REFINERY FIRE BP says no injuries in Texas City hydrotreater fire (a fire broke out in a residual hydrotreater at the company’s 400,780 barrel-per-day refinery was extinguished in about 1-1/2 hours and resulted in no injuries – a portion of the refinery was evacuated – the residual hydrotreater remained shut following the fire, but the rest of the refinery’s units, including crude distillation and gasoline plants, were operating – the blaze was fought by the refinery’s fire department)

FATAL EXPLOSION Explosion at Aboadze thermal plant kills two (an explosion at a plant killed two workers – investigation indicates that the two workers were working on a tanker before the explosion killing one instantly – the second person who sustained serious injuries was rushed to a Hospital but died later)

FIRE Workers evacuated after explosion at chemical firm Lubrizol (more than 300 staff and contractors had to be evacuated from the site of a chemical firm following an explosion at noon – a fire investigation was due to take place last night but the seat of the fire was thought to be in the server room – nobody was reported hurt and everyone was safe and was able to return to work by 1.30pm.)

AMMONIA HAZMAT Team Called for Ammonia Spill at Coca-Cola Plant (employees at the plant were evacuated after there was an ammonia leak in the building’s compressor room at around 6:55 p.m. – a HAZMAT team and the Board of Health were also called in – all employees at the plant were evacuated as a precaution – after conducting several tests of the building, the HAZMAT team determined there were no traces of ammonia in the air, and all employees were then allowed to return)

CONSTRUCTION

TRENCH FATALITY Zambia: Construction Council Probes Sewer Deaths (five workers died after the earth collapsed on them as they were working on a sewer line – they died after part of the earth caved in as they were emerging from a sewer tunnel – two months ago a man died after he was buried alive along the same sewer line that was being constructed)

CRANE 1 hurt during crane accident (Fire Department responded to a crane that accidentally tipped over and crashed into a truck at 10: 30 a.m. – one worker, in his 60’s, was hit by the crane as it tipped over – he was transported to a hospital with a possible back injury – he was in stable condition)

FATAL FALL Worker falls to his death in roofing accident (a roofer, 51, fell through a sky light to his death at a warehouse – he fell to his death at a warehouse while working on a roofing project just after 7:30 a.m. – the victim fell through a skylight approximately 30 feet – the man was dead when the firefighters arrived)

LANDSLIDE after HURRICANE N.H. construction worker killed in Sandy’s aftermath (a construction worker checking a job site in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy was swept to his death by a landslide just before 8:30 a.m. – the construction crew was checking on a home foundation they had been building – the victim was standing on an embankment when it collapsed – other members of the construction crew pulled him out of the debris and started CPR, but he was declared dead in the ambulance on the way to the hospital)

STEAM ROLLER Road construction accident under investigation (a road construction worker, 40, was run over by a steam roller shortly after 5 p.m. while the road was being paved – he sustained injuries to both legs and was taken to a Hospital by EHS where he remains in care with non-life threatening injuries)

FATAL WALL COLLAPSE Man dies following construction accident at Schofield Barracks (a construction worker, 19, is dead after a cinder block wall collapsed just after 1:30 p.m. – he was transported to a Hospital where he later died)

FATAL TRENCH EXPLOSION Worker dies in pipes tragedy (a construction worker, 56, was killed and three others injured, one seriously, in a suspected explosion at a construction site at about 4pm – construction workers heard a loud bang from a water-filled trench – four meters deep and five meters long – into which two workers, wearing diving equipment and other safety gear, had ventured – one worker was declared dead while a 35-year-old worker was taken to a Hospital – two other workers were slightly injured – the workers were attempting to connect new and old submarine sewage pipes)

FATAL FALL from SCAFFOLDING Carpenter killed in Putney scaffolding fall was ‘great dad and husband’(a carpenter, 42, plunged to his death after scaffolding apparently collapsed on a building site in which two other workers were injured – he is believed to have been leaning against a metal barrier on the sixth floor of the development when he fell and careered into two builders on the way down)

MISCELLANEOUS

CRUSHING FATALITY with ELEVATOR Hotel worker crushed to death after falling into moving lift (a hotel cleaner, 63, was crushed to death in front of her horrified colleague when she stepped into a moving lift – she was trapped between the floor of the lift and the ceiling of the building – the doors opened and she went to get in, but the cage was still moving up – she stumbled over the rising lift floor and fell – the cage kept ascending, trapping her between the ceiling (of the building) and the elevator floor)

TREE CONTRACTOR FATALITY Md. contractor killed by falling tree identified (a contractor, 50, was killed by a falling tree while removing debris from Superstorm Sandy – he was part of a crew from a Tree Care company working to remove fallen trees)

FATALITY – may NOT be occupational W’vliet Reservoir worker dies in accident (a worker has died in an on-the-job accident after suffering a medical emergency around 11:30 a.m. – the worker allegedly suffered a fatal medical emergency – the person was part of a work crew performing maintenance on the dam structure at the top of a waterfall – attempts were made to revive the individual but were unsuccessful)

MANLIFT FATALITY Akron man killed in weekend industrial accident (a worker, 48, was killed when he was pinned under a pneumatic lift while working on a piece of construction equipment – a co-worker found him pinned under the pneumatic lift that held the equipment he was working on at about 11:45 a.m. – he was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:03 p.m.)

ARC FLASH Man Burned In Electrical Fire At FSU Mag Lab; Cause Being Investigated (an electrical fire at a college High Magnetic Laboratory injured one man – he was airlifted to a burn center with serious burns – cause of the fire is still being investigated – the fire started on a high-voltage electrical panel – the burn victim was a college maintenance worker who was near the panel when it caught fire – he’s being treated for second- and third-degree burns to his face and arms)

LIGHTNING STRIKE Lightning strikes Pilbara FIFO workers (a contractor, 24, sustained burns to five per cent of his body during the storm, while working on a rail line – the man had been working with four others about 12.20pm when the lightning struck – a co-worker was knocked to the ground by the force of the strike – both men were taken to a Medical Campus for further treatment – one man was discharged after he was treated for a minor neck injury – he is in stable condition and is expected to stay in hospital for further monitoring)

What’s New this week @ SAFTENG.net

Don’t Frankenstein Your Lights (Halloween Safety Tips from UL)

A review of OSHRC PSM Citations following a 32,000 pound release (NH3 Refrigeration)

Preliminary fire testing of composite offshore pedestrian gratings

New Welding Safety Interactive Guide from Lincoln Electric

Perfect example of using the “Elimination/Substitution” in the hierarchy of controls as well as IST

MSHA Safety Alert – Winter Ventilation and Barometric Pressure

PHMSA Safety Advisory: Unauthorized Marking of Compressed Gas Cylinders

OSHA settles PSM citations with refinery ($400,000)

2012 Photo of the Week # 42 (Hotwork Explosion)

2012 Video of the Week #42 (Power of condensing gas & the atm)

What is it? (Hint: Common PSM Safe Guard)