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2013 Fatality Tracker
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STORY of INTEREST Atlantic Minerals, supervisor fined for industrial accident (the supervisor in charge at the time of the accident was fined $2,000 for failing to ensure the workplace was as safe as possible) INDUSTRIAL Contractor injured in Preston incinerator accident (a contractor working at an incinerator was injured at around 4 p.m. in an accident that involved a piece of equipment – worker was taken to the hospital – the cause of the accident is still being investigated) EXPLOSION Accident at Bulgaria’s Lukoil Refinery Leaves 4 Seriously Injured (at 10.10 am the Hospital for Active Treatment received four employees of the refinery who had suffered burns – the most seriously injured worker, a 51-year-old man, suffered 45% 2-3-degree burns – the 51-year-old man and a 52-year-old man with 15% 2nd degree burns were taken to the burns clinic – two other men, aged 46 and 20, suffered 20% burns 2nd degree – most of burn wounds are on the face and limbs – four employees of the refinery were also gassed – according to preliminary reports, the breakdown is believed to have been caused by an electric arc) STRUCK by TRUCK @ GATE Pier worker critically injured at Young Brothers in Honolulu (a woman, said to be in her 40s, was critically injured while working as a contracted security officer – the accident happened shortly before 10 a.m – she received serious injuries to her upper body – she was transported to a Medical Center in critical condition – she was struck by the vehicle of a commercial trucking company at the security gate) FALL from BARGE Ohio River searched for missing barge worker (crews searched the Ohio River between southern Illinois and Kentucky for a missing barge worker, 27 – he disappeared after falling off a Sand and Gravel barge while crossing between a dredger and a towing vessel before dawn – it’s unclear whether he was wearing a life preserver at the time) LANDFILL Police: Melville worker died from industrial accident (a truck driver, 23, unloading debris at an industrial site was found dead by colleagues who noticed him lying behind his vehicle – he was pronounced dead at a landfill for construction debris – he had been standing behind his truck as it unloaded wood and other construction material – nature of his injuries indicate he may have been struck by one of the several, massive machines moving earth and debris around the landfill – he suffered major internal injuries) FATAL FALL from RAILCAR Worker named in fatal mine accident (a worker, 61, died after apparently falling from a railroad car at the mine – he was working as a reagent handler in the unloading area at the mine when he apparently fell from a railroad tanker car to the ground at about 1:45 p.m. near the concentrator at the mine – he had worked for the company for 39 years, holding many job positions, including general laborer, conveyor attendant, bulldozer operator, concentrating plant attendant and as a general reagent handler) CRANE COLLAPSE OSHA investigating Carpenter Technology crane accident (federal inspectors are investigating how two workers were hurt when a 5-ton crane collapsed at the company’s site – the crane was being used in Building 48, the finishing department – the crane was being used to sort incoming materials when it collapsed) MINING FATAL FALL Two die in Tasmania mining accident (two workers, 25 and 45, have died after falling 20 metres down a shaft at a copper mine – they were maintenance workers – one of them is believed to have been killed instantly, while the other died on the way to hospital) MINE FATALITIES Four mine workers killed in northwestern Turkey (four mine workers were killed and one wounded in accidents which occurred on the same day at separate coal mines in in the northwestern province of Zonguldak – three workers were killed due to a coal gas leak at an unlicensed coal mine in the city, which had already been locked up and sealed – the owner of the unlicensed mine ordered the mine to be opened just three days ago from prison, where he is serving his sentence on charges of damaging public property – one worker was killed and another one was wounded in an accident at a mine administered by the Turkish Hard Coal Institute (TTK) – he fell from the locomotive while working 260 meters under the ground) FLASH FIRE Bango oil explosion: 58% of body burned in oil blast, one worker seriously hurt (one worker was seriously hurt in a blast with over 58% of his body being burned in the fiery detonation – incident occurred at an Oil Recycling Plant – the oil explosion left the employee hit by the blast with critical injuries and widespread burns – although the exact cause that led to the devastating explosion is still being looked into as part of an official investigation, the blast is known to have occurred just after 9 a.m. – a weed burned may have contributed to the sudden detonation – someone was using a weed burner to thaw some pipes and the explosion may be initiated from there) FALL and BURNS Worker burned at south Fort Worth brewery, officials say (a worker at the brewery was seriously burned when he fell into a mass of hot grain – he was taken by CareFlite helicopter from the plant to a Hospital at about 8:30 p.m. – plant personnel rescued the man – he appeared to have second-degree burns to his legs) DUST EXPLOSION Explosion at baking manufacturing plant injures 3 workers (an explosion at a baking manufacturing plant injured three workers with one employee suffering serious burns – the explosion occurred about 1:20 a.m. and 19 employees were inside at the time – an employee was mixing bulk baking products when the explosion occurred – “What we are looking at here is probably like a dust explosion that you would have inside a silo,” KCK Fire Department Deputy Chief said. “Basically these baking products like flour and sodium carbonates have static electricity that must have caused the explosion that did set the equipment on fire initially.” – one employee suffered third-degree burns to that employee’s arms and second-degree burns to that person’s face – two other employees were treated at an area hospital for smoke inhalation) EXPLOSION Chicago plant explosion: Two workers sustain burns, plant blast in local Alsip (a plant explosion has left two plant workers with serious burns – the blast led to a major fire and though a cause of the sudden detonation is not known yet, the situation is currently being looked into as part of an official police investigation – two burn victims have been confirmed to have been injured in the fire, though the nature and severity of the wounds have not been specified – both people are thought to have been workers at the plant at the time of the blast, and are currently receiving emergency medical treatment at a local hospital – another dangerous fire also occurred at this same plant back in 2008) FATAL EXPLOSION U.S. Steel Plant Explosion Near Detroit Kills Worker, Injures 2 (an explosion killed one worker and injured two others – a 32-year-old remote-control locomotive operator who had worked at the company for almost two years was killed in the explosion – two others had minor injuries and received medical treatment) PRESSURE EVENT Plant Explosion Seriously Injures Worker (an explosion at the plant sent a worker to the hospital around 8:00 a.m. – an employee was working on a piece of machinery that exploded due to intense pressure – a two-and-a-half inch plug was blown out of the machine and hit a worker in the abdomen – he was flown to a Medical Center in stable condition – no one else was hurt) FATAL EXPLOSION @ ETHANOL PLANT Explosion claims a life at Brazilian ethanol plant (an explosion at an ethanol plant has claimed the life of one worker and seriously injured another – the blast occurred within a sugarcane turbine milling machine – one employee died instantly while the second suffered severe burns but is currently now recuperating in a private hospital – the cause of the incident is being investigated) REFINERY FIRE Laurel CHS refinery fire being investigated (officials at the oil refinery are investigating the cause of a fire that burned in the diesel hydrotreating unit – emergency responders at the refinery quickly extinguished the fire, which broke out shortly before 8 a.m., sending up flames and an impressive black plume of smoke that was visible in all directions around the plant – by 9:15 a.m. the smoke had dissipated – there were no major injuries, but one employee sprained an ankle on a fire hose – the unit’s operating personnel remained in place, while all nonessential personnel and contractors were cleared from the area – all employees except those at the diesel unit were back to work later that morning) DUST EXPLOSION AND STATIC No one injured in explosion, fire at Little Tikes plant in Hudson (an explosion and fire resulted in minimal structure damage – no one was injured – Fire Department responded to the report of an explosion and fire in a powder room and maintenance shop at the facility at 5:59 p.m. – company officials believe static electricity igniting some plastic resin caused the fire – factory was evacuated for safety – all was back to normal by the next day after thorough review by our personnel, fire department, and our electrical contractors) PAPER MILL FIRE Fire reported at paper plant in Montville (two people were taken to an area hospital after a fire at a paper plant just after 12 p.m. where a felt, belt moves paper goods through a huge industrial drier – the fire suppression sprinklers extinguished the fire in the area that dries the paper products – an employee was treated and released at a Hospital for burns on his hands and face – another employee suffered smoke inhalation – fire marshal estimates damage could be about $250,000 – cause of the fire is under investigation) AMMONIA Chemical Leak Prompts Evacuation At Rich’s Ice Cream (two people were taken to a Hospital and 18 others treated at the scene after an anhydrous ammonia leak at an Ice Cream plant around 1 p.m.) AMMONIA Fulton dealing with ammonia leak at K&N’s Foods (plant had an ammonia leak – reverse 911 told 572 residents to stay inside after an anhydrous ammonia leak from the Foods Plant – that order was lifted as of 1:30 pm.- of the four workers inside the food processing plant when the leak was reported, at 9:47 a.m., 3 are fine and the fourth was taken to the hospital for treatment of eye irritation – a valve leak has been plugged, and the area is airing now) CONSTRUCTION FATAL FALL Worker dies in Brazil stadium construction (a construction worker, 22, died in an accident at the stadium – the accident will add further scrutiny to safety measures in the race to be ready for the event, coming barely two weeks after two people died at the venue in Sao Paulo – the death was also the second fatality to hit the venue – a 49-year-old worker died there last May – he died in the early hours after falling 35 metres from the roof of the $200 million, 42,000-capacity stadium – media reported that he fell after a cable broke as he prepared to finish a night shift) OSHA investigates death in East Boston (worker, 46, died after a massive steel beam fell on him – it remains unclear what caused the beam to fall) FATAL FALL down ELEVATOR SHAFT Unfortunate accident: Worker dies after falling off 25th floor of Ocean Towers (a 19-year-old worker of an elevator installation firm died after he fell into the elevator shaft from the 25th floor – the deceased opened the door of the elevator on the 25th floor and stepped on space as the elevator car had failed to move down due to some technical snag – the deceased was not wearing a safety harness when he fell down) MANLIFT Iowa workers get thrown from boom lift in accident (two construction workers have been injured after they were thrown from a boom lift on a truck hit by a train – one worker was thrown about 200 feet and the other worker became wedged under a bridge – the man who was thrown suffered serious injuries, but additional information has not been released about his condition – the man who gripped onto a girder for nearly an hour suffered minor injuries and was removed with the help of a small crane) TRENCH FATALITY Worker dies in northwest Harris Co. construction accident (workers were trying to fix a broken water line when a wall of mud and dirt fell on them – trench was 15 to 20 feet down, six feet wide by about 12 foot long opening – it appears that it wasn’t shored and the wall collapsed – one man was able to dig himself out, but his buddy didn’t make it) CONFINED SPACE FATALITIES 2 Workers Killed in Construction Accident (two men are dead following a construction accident – it happened as the two were working on a storage tank – Emergency Crews responded right around 2 p.m. and were able to recover the two bodies from inside – the two workers have not been identified, but are believed to be from out of state) PAINTING FLASH FIRE Spray painting ignites fire at Queensridge clubhouse; worker burned (a worker was seriously burned while spray painting the clubhouse of a homeowner’s association – the fire erupted at 10:17 a.m. as a group of workers were painting the inside of the building with a commercial paint sprayer and had placed thin plastic sheets around the area to prevent overspray – the accumulated paint fumes were apparently ignited by the pilot light inside a natural gas fireplace in the building – a fire sprinkler doused the flames before firefighters arrived – the worker suffered first- and second-degree burns on the arms and hands – his injuries were not life threatening, and the fire was ruled accidental – damage to the building was estimated at $5,000) EXPLOSION Propane explosion injures construction worker in Cherry Hills Village (a construction worker was injured when propane exploded outside a home – crews are building a new pool at a home – they were reportedly using a large-capacity heater to warm up the tile when the propane leaked or wasn’t turned off and filled an area under some plastic – when the worker went to light the propane heater, it ignited the propane in the area and there was an explosion – one worker suffered injuries to his hands and face and was taken to a nearby hospital – no word yet on his condition) FALL Worker rushed to hospital after fall at Margaritaville (worker, 32, was taken to the hospital after an apparent 15-foot fall while working on the roof of a new restaurant at 10:19 a.m., – he had lost consciousness but was becoming alert as they transported him to the hospital – there was an apparent head injury, open bleeding and he was complaining of back pain) CRANE FATALITY One Dead, Five Hurt As Crane Falls On German Supermarket (a woman, 46, was killed and five people injured when a crane crashed onto a discount supermarket – around 47 people were in the supermarket at the time – 40 customers and seven staff – cause of the accident was not yet clear – crane driver was seriously injured and flown to hospital) Miscellaneous UPDATE Snowblower engaged when worker tried to clear chute (employee was unaware that the snowblower he was operating was still engaged when he attempted to clear a blockage in the chute causing serious injury to his hand – he lost half of his hand as a result of thinking that the equipment was not running) CRUSHING FATALITY by CAR Police investigate after worker killed at Ford and Hyundai dealership (police have begun an investigation after a worker, 51, at a Ford and Hyundai dealership was killed at work – he was moving vehicles at the car dealership when he died – he was crushed against a wall by a runaway car and died at the scene – he had worked for the dealership since 2009) FATAL FALL into RIVER Man pronounced dead after fall from Anderson Ferry into Ohio River (a long-time deckhand on a Ferry died after he went overboard into the Ohio River without a life jacket – worker, 82, was pulled out of the water in critical condition – “Sometimes (the ferry) gets icy,” said an Anderson Ferry employee, describing the dangers of working on the river. “Life vests we have complicate things.” – Swift Water Rescue, Boone County Water Rescue and other emergency responders pulled him from the icy waters shortly after 2 p.m. – it took crews about 30 minutes to find him after he was carried down river by currents) FATAL FALL Worker killed after falling more than six metres at Newfoundland motorcycle shop (a worker, 65, at a motorcycle shop was killed after falling more than six metres around 1:15 p.m. – victim was in serious condition when they arrived – he was taken to hospital where he was later pronounced dead) GRINDING BURNS Student burned at vocational school (a student, 17, was badly burned after a welding class incident – the student is expected to make a full recovery -student was using a welding grinder when his shirt caught fire – students worked to extinguish the boy, who sustained severe burns to the shoulder and underarm area during the incident – the boy who was burnt was using a grinder at the time) GAS LINE Fire breaks out at Packard Plant after scrappers sever gas line (Scrappers trying to steal pipes from the tunnels that run underneath the plant struck a natural gas line sparking fires at the sprawling abandoned auto factory – fire crews were called just after 4 p.m. to the plant – a 1-inch gas line roughly 8 to 10 feet underground had been severed – crews used a backhoe to reach a shut-off valve for the line) |
What’s New @ SAFTENG.net
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2013 Photo of the Week #50 (Holiday Lights)
Acting Responsibly? Federal Contractors Frequently Put Workers’ Lives and Livelihoods at Risk
OSHA issues PSM citations at manufacturer of polystyrene foam core board (Flammables & $90,860)
Training requirements for mechanics repairing and/or testing pressure relief devices
Characteristics of the Incident Command System: Part 5 (USFA)
The 12 things OSHA wants to change about it PSM Standard and its enforcement
EPA RMP Citations @ fertilizer distributor (NH3 & $2,960)
EPA RMP Citations @ Ethanol plant (NH3 and $6,600)
2013 Photo of the Week #49 (PPE – Faceshield)
2013 Video of the Week #49 (Propane Cylinders exploding after accident)
Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) Fatality (TNOSHA)
Calibrating and Testing Direct-Reading Portable Gas Monitors (OSHA Bulletin)
CSB follow-up letter to DOT regarding emergency shutdown systems for chlorine railcars
Christmas Tree Fire Hazards – Water That Tree! (VIDEO)
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