28 incidents & 0 updates (3/26/15)

and over 1,300 ppt’s & doc’s from more than 2,782 contributors!

2015 Fatality Tracker

INDUSTRIAL

STRUCK BY FATALITY Transfer Station Accident Claims Life Of Longtime Local City Worker (worker died in an accident at a solid waste transfer station – he was struck by what the city described as a piece of motorized equipment just after 4 p.m. – he had been employed by the city’s solid waste division for 17 years)

LOTO/GUARDING FATALITY Worker dies after West Sadsbury industrial accident (worker, 44, was pronounced dead at a Hospital following an industrial accident around 6 p.m. – worker was attempting to clear a clog in a book baler when the accident took place – while the victim was inside the machine the clog cleared, causing a load of paper circulars to fall onto the man – official cause of death is still under investigation, police said, but the victim likely died from suffocation or crushing injuries)

FORKLIFT FATALITY Worker Operating Fork Lift Dies in Center Moriches Industrial Accident (worker, 37, died after striking his head and falling off a forklift – he was operating a forklift when he lost control of the vehicle, hit his head on a metal post and fell to the ground at approximately 6:10 p.m. – he was transported to a Medical Center where he was pronounced dead)

FORKLIFT FATALITY One dead, one arrested in Mississauga workplace accident with forklift (a man is dead and another man has been taken into custody after an incident at a steel company involving a forklift – it appears a worker was struck by a forklift and the driver initially fled the scene)

HOTWORK ignites GRAIN DUST Three Hospitalized After Flash Fire at OK Foods Feed Mill (three people are hospitalized with severe burns after a flash fire at the feed mill – two people remain in critical condition at a hospital – the other worker was transported to a Hospital with minor injuries – flash fire happened on the third floor of the mill, where two contract welders were working – grain dust suddenly caught fire – several employees were inside the building at the time of the incident jumping to safety from three stories up)

CRUSHING FATALITY 38-Year-Old Worker Crushed to Death By Heavy Machine in Ruse (worker, 38, was crushed to death by a 40-tonne machine in a unit of the former heavy machine production plant – incident happened at the end of the workday – team of emergency doctors could do nothing but register the death)

ELECTRICAL EXPLOSION 1 injured in transformer explosion at downtown high-rise (one construction worker suffered minor burns after an electrical transformer exploded on the 34th floor of a high-rise building – fire was caused by an electrical short and the damage was confined to the electrical room)

FATAL EXPLOSION Fatal explosion at French desserts firm Senagral (one person has been killed and two injured following the explosion of a machine at a dairy plant – during routine preventive maintenance work on a packaging machine, an explosion occurred, seemingly of a disinfectant cylinder on the machine, which led to the death of a maintenance worker – two other workers were hurt in the blast, with one of them taken to hospital but the injuries are not life-threatening)

HOTWORK Fire at Lexington business deemed accidental (employees do a lot of grinding and welding in the building where the fire happened so he said he thinks the sparks got into the attic and started the fire – employees from the last shift in that building left at 4 p.m. so it’s possible that sparks got up there and were smoldering but didn’t actually catch fire until overnight)

LOTO/GUARDING FATALITY Chireno man dies in industrial accident at Center plant (worker, 24, died after he fell into a piece of machinery at approximately 2:32 p.m. – when FF’s arrived on the scene 12 minutes later, they learned that the worker had fallen into a piece of equipment and suffered injuries that resulted in his death)

CHEMICAL SPILL Chemical spill at Kronos plant near Montreal under control (a chemical leak caused several buildings to be evacuated and two people to be hospitalized – five people suffered health problems from the leak and two were sent to hospital – leak began around 10 a.m. when an equipment failure at the plant created a large white cloud and foul odor – originally officials estimated that 40 tons of titanium tetrachloride spilled out of the factory but a municipal official says it appears only about five tons was released)

AMMONIA PARIS TN: Ammonia leak contained (the leak was found in a pipe union between a 12,000-gallon tank and a filling station – firefighters and employees shut off the pipe – there were no injuries)

CONSTRUCTION

FATAL SCAFFOLDING COLLAPSE Investigation underway after deadly Raleigh scaffolding collapse (three construction workers were killed in a scaffolding collapse at construction site around 11 a.m. when the construction platform fell – one more worker was hurt and was taken to a hospital where he was listed in serious condition – the scaffolding was a “mast climber” design, which is a platform that goes up the side of a building on a vertical column – it was in the process of being lowered when it came down)

FALL Worker Injured In West Haven Construction Accident (worker, 23, was injured when he fell one story while working inside a house that is under construction – accident happened at about 9:10 a.m. – he fell from the first floor of the raised ranch to the ground, about 12 feet – he had broken bones and other injuries)

WORKZONE FATALITY DOT worker hit, killed in Wayne work zone (Department of Transportation worker, 35, was killed when he was hit by a vehicle in a road work zone at about 11 a.m. – a 2003 Saturn Vue ran off the highway to the left and struck the worker in the median – he was an engineering technician who had worked for DOT for five years – two other workers narrowly avoided being hit – driver was charged with driving while impaired, felony death by vehicle and child endangerment – the latter charge stemmed from having two children in the car, ages 2 and 9, with her at the time of the accident)

FALL Worker survives fall (worker with the road crew constructing the replacement bridge found himself in a potentially life threatening situation when he fell into a support pier for the new bridge – the 20-feet-long fall through the hollow cement pier left the man with reportedly less severe injuries than crews had initially expected – the worker, a foreman at the site, reportedly lost his footing while working on top of one of the new bridge’s unfinished concrete piers and fell inside of it)

TRENCH Worker hurt when trench collapses in La Jolla (a trench cave in trapped a construction worker who was helping to install a pipeline in the trench when he became trapped – co-workers quickly came to his rescue and were able to free him before emergency crews arrived – he was taken to the hospital and his condition has not been released)

CIVILIAN FATALITY @ WORKZONE Pregnant woman killed in California construction accident (a 32-year-old woman was crushed by a toppled gravel truck – accident happened as the bed of a truck at a city construction project raised to dump its load, but instead toppled over on the driveway and on top of a car where the woman was sitting inside, crushing the vehicle – a contractor at the site told CBS News affiliate that a worker was helping the woman back out of her driveway so that the gravel truck could move in and unload its 20 tons of material. But the gravel shifted, causing the truck to overturn)

FATAL SCAFFOLDING COLLAPSE 12 dead in Vietnam factory accident, confirmed by FPG (scaffolding collapse which took place at a steel mill killed at least twelve workers on site – more that thirty nine victims were taken to a nearby hospital – more than 100 men have remained under the rubble after the collapse has occurred – it occurred when few workers were trying to erect the scaffolding, which are almost 30-40 meters high)

ELECTRICAL Worker electrified while moving refrigerator (construction worker who was helping move a large refrigerator at a store was flown to a Hospital after sustaining injuries – incident occurred shortly after 5:30 p.m. – worker was helping move the refrigerator following a fire that had occurred earlier in the afternoon – they thought the power was off – owever, a surge of power shocked the worker, causing injuries – no CPR was required)

ELECTRICAL Investigators: Worker installing metal roofing shocked in New Smyrna Beach (worker, 35, is in critical condition after being shocked while installing pieces of metal roofing at a business – he was on the roof of a building and pieces of the metal roof were being lifted up there – one or more pieces came in contact with a 13,000-volt power line and badly burned the worker)

EXPLOSION Building explodes in NYC’s East Village (construction workers accidentally “hit a gas main” that fueled an explosion and massive fire that burned four buildings, collapsing one and leaving another in danger of falling down – at least 12 people were injured, three critically, but there were no immediate fatalities and no reports of anyone missing in the ruins – appears to have been caused by plumbing and gas work that was occurring inside the five-story tenement that housed a restaurant on its ground floor)

HOTWORK Welding sparks ignite small fire at construction site for new Sanford hospital (sparks from welding ignited building materials at the construction site for a new hospital – small fire broke out just before 8 a.m. and was put out by construction workers before firefighters arrived on scene)

HOTWORK Fire breaks out at work site (fire broke out in the basement of a multi-storey building under construction – no one was injured – fire broke out around 12.30 p.m. when sparks from a welding work in progress fell on foam placed in the basement of the building – fire started raging despite efforts by the construction workers)

MISCELLANEOUS

FARM FATALITY Connecticut farm worker dies after corn collapses on him (worker, 54, was crushed by a pile of milled corn at a farm – he was using equipment to move corn from a large mound when some of it toppled onto him when he got off the vehicle – he was found unresponsive by other farm workers, who dug him out – he was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly before 5:30 p.m.)

HOTWORK Niagara Falls Fire Department (workers using a hand-held torch, in an attempt to thaw out frozen pipes, caused the insulation, siding and wood underneath the siding to catch fire – fire was confined to the outside of the home, but did damage the water pipe inside the home, resulting in a water leak in the basement – total damage was estimated at $4,000)

HOTWORK Fire at Dairy Queen causes smoke damage (no one was injured in the fire that set part of a Dairy Queen ablaze – fire was contained to the rear storage area and had been suppressed by the building’s automatic sprinkler system – owner was working with a torch on some parts he had to fix in the storage area, and it appears as though the torch was laid too close to combustible material when he put it down to go out and talk to the delivery guy)

Stop by session 721 on

Wednesday 6/10 @ 7:45 a.m.

Process Safety Management

Enforcement Trends and Best Practices

I am also teaching my

1-Day PSM Course

as a POST CONF Seminar

on Thursday or Friday

What’s New @ SAFTENG.net

Today marks the 1-year Anniversary of “The Back Bay Blaze” where UNSAFE Hot Work Practices claimed the lives of two Boston FF’s

EPA RMP citations @ food facility (NH3 refrigeration; $36K & SEP $10K)

Shock to the System (CSB Video on Hydraulic Shock in Refrigeration)

IL Pressure Vessel Inspection Frequency (DRAFT FM Procedure)

Chemical Security Program Statistics as of March 2, 2015

BUCKLE UP… or join this gentleman in the street wishing you had

Interesting look at some RMP Data

Cal ARP Regulation Amendments 2015

Believe in what you do!

2015 Photo of the Week #12 (Lockout?)

2015 Video of the Week #12 (Hotwork)

OSHA PSM citations @ manufacturer of foam, paper and plastic packaging materials (Isobutane; $73K)

Line Break Gone BAD due to IMPROPER LOTO and OSHRC vacates all OSHA citations (not a type-o!)

Good video explaining how static is created and why it is worse in winter (video)