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2012 Fatality Tracker
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INDUSTRIAL MINE FATALITY Peabody Says Worker Killed In Accident At Coal Mine In Southeast Illinois (a worker, 30, was fatally injured after he became pinned by a continuous mining machine that he was operating – the underground mine has been idled pending investigation and appropriate officials with the state, federal government and union have been contacted) HOTWORK EXPLOSION FATALITY Two workers still in critical condition after fire on oil platform (two workers remain in critical condition and two others are in serious but stable condition after sustaining serious burns from a fire on an oil platform – the news on their condition comes as the search for their two missing co-workers from Friday’s fire continued – the U.S. Coast Guard is still looking for the one worker while divers found one – four workers had sustained second- and third-degree burns over a large portion of their body – a total of 11 workers were air-lifted to be treated for injuries – the remaining seven were released after being treated by paramedics – workers on the platform, which produces oil and natural gas, are contractors and do not work for the company directly – at the time of the fire, the workers were cutting a 75-foot long pipe that was 3 inches in diameter and contained as much as 75 gallons of product – the process for cutting the pipe calls for a “cold-cutting device,” or a non-sparking tool – However, he confirmed that a cutting torch was used instead, which ignited the vapors in the pipe – there is a half-mile by 200-yard oil sheen from the platform – platform was not in production at the time of the fire and remains structurally sound – this is not the first accident the company has dealt with in the past two years – in August, a crane was lowering two workers in a basket when the equipment failed – the two workers fell into the Gulf, but were not seriously injured – in February 2011, a small fire broke out on a platform – the fire was quickly put out and a battery charger was blamed for the fire – in September 2011, Black Elk Energy paid a $307,000 fine – according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the company failed to do a leak test on a safety valve and it took them 117 days to fix it once a problem was discovered – none of these incidents happened at the platform where Friday’s fire took place) FORKLIFT FATALITY Forklift Operator Killed At Oakland Recycling Firm Identified (a forklift operator, 34, was killed in an accident at a plastic recycling company – he was killed while he was using one forklift to lift up and service a second forklift – the second forklift fell down and crushed his head at 9:43 a.m. – he was declared dead at the scene by paramedics) FALL from TRUCK WORKER AIRLIFTED TO HOSPITAL AFTER ACCIDENT AT CUMBRIAN OIL DEPOT (a worker, 37, fell 15ft off a lorry – he had fallen about 15ft from the top of a lorry onto concrete below – he has suffered no serious back or neck injuries, but has broken a small bone in his arm – the man is expected to make a full recovery) CABLE SNAP FATALITY Industrial accident at Fontana plant second in three months (a deadly industrial accident at a concrete plant is the second in three months involving a worker, 40, who lost a leg at the site – Cal/OSHA, says both incidents are currently being investigated and it is not common to have two leg amputations at one workplace in this amount of time – the deceased and another worker were wrapping high-gauge cable into coils when the cable snapped, striking both the workers – the cable severed the other man’s leg and the deceased was struck in the head – another worker suffered a severe leg injury at the plant on Aug. 8. when a concrete pole stacked on a pile of other poles fell, injuring the worker) Chemical burn sends worker to hospital (a worker at a sugar facility remains in the hospital after suffering a chemical burn to his leg – the plant is a beet processing facility that can produce up to 150,000 tons of sugar from locally-grown sugar beets each year – no details) FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS FIRE Chemical fire at Nexeo Solutions plant in Garland burns out (firefighters let a blaze burn out at a chemicals and plastics distribution facility – the fire broke out around 3:30 p.m. and authorities evacuated a quarter-mile area around the plant, which is primarily industrial – by 6 p.m. authorities said it was safe for residents to return to their homes as long as they stay inside and avoid prolonged exposure – the plant has 10 chemicals filed as Tier 2 hazards, ammonium hydroxide, xylene and aqua ammonia – its cause is still under investigation, but it began in the loading racks – no injuries were reported) UPDATE BP agrees to pay $4.5 billion; 3 employees charged (BP agreed to plead guilty to a raft of criminal charges and pay a record $4.5 billion in a settlement with the government over the deadly 2010 disaster in the Gulf of Mexico – three BP employees were also charged, two of them with manslaughter – the settlement and the indictments came 2½ years after the drilling-rig explosion that killed 11 workers and set off the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history – the settlement includes nearly $1.3 billion in fines, the biggest criminal penalty in U.S. history, along with payments to entities inside and outside government – as part of the deal, the BP will plead guilty to charges related to the deaths of the 11 workers and to lying to Congress – Two BP rig workers were indicted on federal charges of manslaughter and involuntary manslaughters, accused of repeatedly disregarding abnormal high-pressure readings that should have been glaring indications of trouble just before the blowout – BP’s vice president of exploration for the Gulf of Mexico at the time, was indicted on charges of obstruction of Congress and making false statements – he withheld information from Congress that indicated the amount of oil spewing from the blown-out well was greater than he let on) STEEL PLANT Crushed steel worker airlifted to hospital (a worker, in his 50’s, has been airlifted to hospital with multiple injuries after he was believed to have been crushed by metal pipes – he suffered “serious” leg, abdomen and chest injuries around 1.45pm and due to the seriousness of the man’s injuries the Air Ambulance was called and he was airlifted to a Hospital) DIESEL TANK EXPLOSION Tank at Elkhart oil company explodes (an explosion rocked an oil facility just before 3:00pm – a diesel tank that was being taken apart for scrap exploded – a flash fire happened as crews were cutting it apart – a worker was flown to an area burn center) EXPLOSION @ Ammonia/Nitrogen – DURING START-UP after Turnaround Plant Explosion felt far and wide (a high-pressure pipe rupture is to blame for an explosion at a Nitrogen plant – the accident injured one employee, but was contained to the facility – the explosion rattled homes throughout the area – the explosion blew tin siding off the plant where workers make ammonia, injuring one employee, but it appears the incident was contained – the explosion was reported at 10:10 p.m., – the cause appears to be from a high-pressure pipe used in the ammonia-making process – “It’s very, very early in our investigation, but basically we had a high-pressure rupture of some piping in a heat exchanger that’s part of our ammonia manufacturing process” – the unit had been down a few days for repairs, and we were in the process of restarting the entire ammonia plant – a contract worker sustained a laceration to the head and received stitches – one other employee complained of aches and pains from being pushed against the wall during the pressure wave and he was sent to our company doctor just to be evaluated – there was no release of air emissions, no off-site consequences – natural gas is the raw material used in the production of ammonia) HOTWORK Fire put out at former NewPage mill (firefighters put out a fire at the former paper mill around 8:40 a.m. – demolition crews were taking apart a piece of equipment inside the former mill when a spark from a welding torch they were using caused a minor explosion when it reached an oil or gas can – there was heavy smoke inside the building, but the fire was quickly put out – no one was hurt) EXPLOSION Investigation underway into explosion, fire at American Packaging Corporation (a small explosion and fire occurred around 12:30 p.m. – the building’s sprinkler system had put out the fire – no one was hurt – there was a report that somebody was missing, but the person was found outside a short time later – employees were evacuated for a time – the plant also had an explosion in 2009 which killed a 47-year-old worker) UPDATE on FATAL EXPLOSION Third person dies after explosion at Quebec plant (a third person has died from injuries related to a powerful explosion and fire at a manufacturing plant outside Montreal – the worker died at the hospital Saturday evening – he suffered burns on 90 percent of his body and was in an induced coma – the bodies of two other people were found in the ruins of the plant after the explosion – three people remain hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries) HOTWORK Fire at former Liberty plant blamed on sparks (a fire at a former denim plant was caused by sparks from a torch being used by construction workers to tear the building down – no one was injured as a result of the fire around 8:36 a.m. – 20 construction workers were inside the former plant which has been closed for about eight months, but they were all able to get out – they initially tried to extinguish the fire themselves but were unsuccessful – construction workers were cutting metal in the roof as they were preparing to tear down the mill building – they were using cutting torches and a spark from the cutting torches fell and caught fire on the roof – the fire at the plant was contained to a small area) CHEMICAL FATALITY @ REFINERY Special investigation into the gas leak at Sri Lanka’s refinery (a gas leak at an oil refinery resulted in two deaths – two people died and 11 were hospitalized after inhaling a noxious gas during the repairs on a leaking gas line at the refinery – two are receiving treatment in the intensive care unit – four others are also at another hospital while another five have been admitted to a different hospital) HYDROCHLORIC ACID Trafford Park chemical leak: Investigation starts (a chemical leak forced road closures and an emergency evacuation – residents were warned to stay indoors after a leak of hydrochloric acid gas at about 18:15 GMT – about 50 firefighters worked until 03:00 GMT to deal with the spill at the chemical plant – there were no reports of any injuries and cordons have now been lifted – the leak is not believed to have spread beyond the factory complex) SULFURIC ACID DuPont Confirms Chemical Leak in Wurtland (plant had an accidental release of sulfuric acid – calls went out to their corporate neighbors to shelter in place after the release of 10 pounds of sulfuric acid) CHLORINE FATALITIES 3 Died in Chlorine Leak in Central Russia (three people died and nine were hospitalized in a chlorine leak at a chemical plant – three people died on the spot as a result of a chlorine leak and nine others were hospitalized due to gas contamination – in addition, 38 more people were admitted to the hospitals for non-life-threatening treatment – the accident happened at a titanium-amalgan alloy plant at 13:55 – according to preliminary reports, the chlorine unit depressurized and an emission of chlorine occurred) CONSTRUCTION ELECTRICAL Construction worker shocked by live wire at mill building (a worker, 35, at the historic building was shocked by a live wire during demolition work and was transported to a Hospital with serious, but non-life threatening burns around 11 a.m. – contractors were working in a vacant building doing some light demolition and removing non-permanent or structural items from the building, and inadvertently cut a live wire – his injuries, although serious, are not life threatening – he was transported to a local hospital but then sent to Boston because he sustained a burn to his hands) MANLIFT w/o HARNESS Construction worker thrown from lift in Friday morning I-75 accident (a construction worker, 40, was seriously injured after a commercial vehicle hit the bucket of a motorized lift he was in on Interstate 75 about 3:55 a.m. – he was inside the bucket on the lift, suspended in the air over the right lane of traffic – he was attempting to move the lift eastbound across the northbound lanes of travel – troopers believed he was operating the lift from the air – a semi-tractor trailer northbound on I-75, where traffic was reduced to one lane with the right lane being open to traffic – worker was thrown from the lift and landed in a grassy area near the berm of the highway – he was not wearing his safety harness at the time of the crash – he was seriously injured and taken to a hospital – his injuries appeared serious, but did not appear to be life threatening at the time of the crash) FATAL COLLPASE Construction accident in NW China kills 8 (a collapse at a construction site killed eight people and injured 20 – the accident occurred at about 8 am and buried 28 workers who were working at the construction site – all the trapped workers were removed from the wreckage by firefighters and police by around 10 am – one worker died at the site after being removed from the wreckage – the other 27 were taken to a local hospital – seven died in hospital from serious injures later that day – the others were in stable conditions) TRENCHING & BACKHOE Moore Water Treatment Plant Accident (one man was transported to the hospital following a construction accident at a Water Treatment Plant around 3 p.m. – the man was working in a trench when he was hit by the bucket of a track hoe – the bucket crushed the worker’s legs) FATAL FALL from SCAFFOLDING Teenager dies after falling from scaffolding (a teenager, 16, has died after falling from scaffolding on a two-story house – he was treated at the scene before being airlifted to a Hospital, but died of head injuries – building work was taking place at the property where the incident happened) SCAFFOLDING Workman taken to hospital after scaffolding gives way (paramedics had to lift an injured carpenter, 24, from scaffolding at a building site – he suffered a suspected back injury after a wooden board he was standing on gave way about 11.30am – when he stepped back, one of the boards snapped and his foot went through it – he didn’t actually fall right through – it was more of a jarring action) MISCELLANEOUS CHAIN FAILURE FATAITY Worker killed while working on barge in Hartford (a man, 23, working on a barge in the Mississippi River died after being struck by a chain that broke under tension – preliminary autopsy results show he died of blunt-force trauma to the pelvis – he was working on a towboat propeller when the chain broke – he was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. after attempts to revive him failed) FARMING FATALITY Victim’s brother talks about deadly potato truck accident (a man, 41, involved in a farming accident has died – the worker was run over by a potato truck and died from his injuries – he died from “crush and blunt injuries to his head, chest and abdomen due to a farming accident” – he was picking up sweet potatoes and was in the back of the truck and the truck backed up and that’s when the accident happened) ELECTROCUTION of TREE TRIMMER Tree Trimmer Electrocuted In Hollywood (a tree trimmer was electrocuted – the worker was trimming trees outside a home when he got too close to a power line and was electrocuted – his body remained in the tree until rescue crews could bring him down – a second worker suffered minor injuries) CHEMICAL Fumes At St. Louis Area Dialysis Center Force Evacuations (a dialysis center is back open after fumes from a water-vinegar mixture sent one worker to the hospital and prompted a brief evacuation – a technician suffered a bad reaction while mixing a solution of water and a high concentration of vinegar – a co-worker became worried about the technician’s breathing and called 911 – firefighters noticed the fumes and ordered all patients and staff outside) HOTWORK Fire discovered at Columbus North (a smoldering fire was discovered at a High School – second-shift custodians smelled something burning and were unable to determine what it was and called 911 – the source was traced to an insulation-wrapped pipe in a crawl space, where a laborer earlier that day had been using a welding torch that firefighters believe sparked the smoldering fire) |
What’s New this week @ SAFTENG.net
UPDATE The importance of PROPER SECONDARY CONTAINMENT for Flammable Liquids (Videos) Risk of carbon monoxide release during the storage of wood pellets
OSHA cites 50 safety violations, proposes $917,000 in fines after flammable liquid explosion
Evaluation of Health Effects of a Chlorine Gas Release in a Poultry Processing Plant – Arkansas
Unsafe line break into a NH3 line results in three workers hospitalized and more than $55K in fines
OSHA updates 1910.35 Head Protection
What is Fee for Intervention (FFI) and who is doing it?
Storm Water Drain EXPLOSION
Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD) fuel and Static Electricity
OSHA Top 10 Cited Standards and standards for which OSHA assessed the highest penalties in 2012
OSHA Compliance Assistance Facts: FY 2012
NIOSH noise database for power tools
RMP’s “Stationary Source” and “Incident to Transportation” exemption challenged
EPA’s RMP General Duty Clause and a challenge to the definition of an EHS
Genie Lift Safety Notice (11/5/12) Dangers of Deep Frying your Turkey 11 Serious and 2 willful violations regarding confined spaces The infamous “Process Safety Contractor Safety Study” by the John Gray Institute Phillips 66 Explosion & Fire – Pasadena, TX 1989 Who is the OSHRC and what does the commission do? Recordkeeping…who is the “highest ranking company official working at the establishment”? FREE On-Line OSHA Compliance Tools from OSHA & MSHA 2012 Video of the Week #44 (Hotwork & Drums II) 2012 Photo(s) of the Week # 44 (PSM Human Factors) EPA Region X’s RMP “Managment Plan” Example Hotwork & Tank Truck Explosion II HAZARD ALERT – AMMONIA SAFETY IN WINERIES
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