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2013 Fatality Tracker
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STORY of INTEREST (Tweeted early this week) Explosion sends fire extinguisher flying quarter-mile (a fire extinguisher inside a machine at a scrapyard exploded sending it flying through the air for a quarter-mile and slamming into a home – a worker at the scrap metal yard was using a large machine and had no idea there was a fully-charged fire extinguisher inside – the fire extinguisher split in two, sending half of it into a junk pile and the other half flying through the air onto a home – “It hit the top of my house and bounced off and landed about 100 yards down the house”) INDUSTRIAL AMMONIA FATALITIES Cold storage ammonia leak kills 15 workers (loose fittings on pipes caused the fatal liquid ammonia leak at a cold storage plant which has caused 15 deaths – 25 injured people, including several that were seriously injured in earlier reports, are now in stable condition – most of the injured suffered burns – those who died suffered serious facial burns, making it difficult to identify them – accident happened at around 10:50 am at a company specializing in frozen food processing, transportation and storage – accidents caused by ammonia leaks are not unusual – one leak caused an explosion at a poultry company in Changchun, Jilin Province on June 3, leaving 121 people dead and 76 injured) UPDATE on REFINERY FATALITIES HPCL refinery accident death toll rises to 23 (the toll in the refinery accident which occurred last week rose to 19, with one more contract worker succumbing to burn injuries – contractor, 20, died here on Friday night and 24 more are undergoing treatment in various hospitals) AMPUTATIONS Worker’s fingers severed in incident at Nations outlet (an employee lost a number of fingers in a machinery accident – the worker sustained a hand injury while using unspecified equipment, which resulted in the amputation of “a number of fingers” – a stop work order was issued for that piece of “electrically-powered equipment”) MINE FATALITY South African worker killed in accident at Atlatsa Resources (V.ATL) mine (a scraper winch accident ended with the death of an employee at a platinum mine – no other details) GUARDING FATALITY Worker killed in Virginia recycling plant accident (a worker, 53, was killed in an accident at a recycling plant – he apparently fell into a recycling baler machine – he worked as a machine operator at the facility – he is at least the 21st sanitation or recycling worker killed in the line of duty in 2013 – 26 workers died on the job in 2012) CRANE FATALITY Man killed in industrial accident at Manitowoc Crane Group in Pennsylvania (an employee was killed in an industrial accident at a Crane company – he was killed when he was pinned between a parked crane and a crane that was being moved by another employee – incident occurred around 2:30 p.m. – he was standing between a parked crane and one that was being moved by another employee – the crane turned too sharply to the right and trapped him between the two cranes) CONFINED SPACE FATALITY Cause of deadly accident at Jackson Parish paper mill still unknown (one contractor worker is dead and two others are injured after falling into a tank at a paper mill – the cause of the accident is still not known – it happened while two contract workers were cleaning out the tank – two contractors were inside a tank in the mill cleaning it out – one of the workers came out of the tank with burns – that worker was taken to the hospital – the second worker did not make it out and died in the tank – a third contractor was also sent to a Hospital and is in ICU with burn injuries – that employee was inspecting the tank and fell into what is called “black liquor”) ELECTROCUTION in BUCKET TRUCK Railway worker from Pa. killed in NY accident (employee, 39, has been killed while inspecting a railroad bridge – he was conducting elevated train bridge measurements when he came into contact with a power line and was electrocuted – he was working in a bucket truck under elevated tracks – he was working with three other railway employees) FORKLIFT FATALITY Sanford worker killed by falling bale of copper wiring (a worker, 50, in a scrap metal yard was killed when a bale of copper wiring fell on him at about 3:02 p.m. – he was operating a forklift machine around large stacked bales of copper wiring – at some point, the man got off the machine and a bale of wire fell on him – he was crushed by a bale that weighed more than 1,000 pounds and was pronounced dead at the scene) DUST EXPLOSION and DUST COLLECTOR FIRE Fire at Cocoa plywood business burns worker (a wood processing machine caught fire, injuring one worker and destroying the machine, estimated to be worth about $25,000 – workers smelled smoke and noticed the dust collector was on fire – employees used at least five fire extinguishers trying to fight the blaze – one worker, 51, suffered second degree burns on his arm from a dust explosion – he was treated and released on scene – the fire was contained to the machine) EXPLOSION Situation ‘under control’ after explosion rocks Cornwall, Ont., chemical plant (the situation is under control at a chemical plant after an explosion just after 6 a.m. – there were no immediate injuries – the scale of the explosion was “relatively small” and there was no fire – one worker who was in the plant at the time of the explosion was reported to have escaped the building unharmed – the explosion was powerful enough to shake the windows in neighboring homes – the plant manufactures monomeric and polymeric plasticizers) OIL RIG EXPLOSION Oil Rig Explosion Continues to Burn in Lavaca County (an oil rig that exploded around 7:00 p.m. continues to burn, as officials try to figure out what caused the explosion – workers were drilling when something went wrong, sending them running for cover – the fire is expected to continue burning for at least a couple of days – none of the workers at the site were injured) FATAL HOTWORK EXPLOSION w/ ACID TANKS Explosion kills two in Bhagawati Steel Industries in Nepal (two workers died after acid-filled tanks exploded and caused a fire – both died after fuel tanks exploded and caught fire while they were trying to fix a pipe onto a tank at about 9:30 AM – the workers were welding a pipe onto the furnace tank, which exploded along with another one and caught fire – both the tanks were filled with acid, adding that the repair work was gong on for the past three days) FALL Port worker overcome by fumes falls 10m onto ship at Bunbury terminal (worker has been taken to hospital after falling 10 metres into the hull of a ship in a port – police believe he became overcome by fumes around 6.30am – he was trapped for some time at the bottom of the ship and was resuscitated before being taken to a Hospital – his injuries are not believed to be serious) ELECTROCUTION Utility Worker Electrocuted, Another Hurt In Barber County (a utility worker, 20, is dead and another, 29, was hurt after an incident – emergency crews were dispatched to the report of an electrocution – they found two men injured – the employees had been setting a pole when the wind came up and twisted it out of the grapple arms of the truck – both men were holding onto the pole when it fell and hit an electric line above the area where they were working – the pole was secured by a chain, which prevented it from falling to the ground) HOTWORK American Crystal Sugar plant fire (welding work caused a small fire at a sugar plant – firefighters found light smoke and dry powder residue from the plant workers trying to put out the fire with extinguishers – it took about 30 minutes to extinguish – most of the damage was limited to the mechanical room where the fire happened and the adjacent walkway above the room – no one was injured) CARBON DIOXIDE Dry Ice Accident Forces Evacuation, Sends 34 to Hospital (a plant was evacuated after an accident involving dry ice caused a carbon dioxide gas cloud at 8:32 a.m. – an employee was having difficulty breathing – by the time fire personnel arrived, other workers were showing signs of distress so the plant was evacuated as a precaution – 33 employees were taken to the hospital, including five who were considered to be in immediate need of assistance – one firefighter was also taken to the hospital as a precaution – a preliminary investigation determined that a “significant” amount of dry ice came into contact with heated water – the ensuing gas cloud sucked up the oxygen from the facility while filling it with carbon dioxide) UPDATE Illinois EPA Issues Update on June Seward Explosion and Fire (Illinois EPA has issued an update to the public regarding an explosion and fire that took place on June 2-3, 2013 – the portions of the facility that were affected by the fire have been demolished and the residual chemicals and chemical containers have been packaged and taken off-site – Illinois EPA also announced the facility will be allowed to conduct limited manufacturing operations, under conditions of certain safety requirements – the plant is currently under a court order to cease and desist all operations at the facility unless the Illinois EPA and Illinois OAG agree to allow them – these limited operations, which begin August 29th, will involve a process and location that is different and separate from the production process that was involved in the June 2-3 incident) AMMONIA Ammonia leak at Newcastle Orica site (an ammonia leak has not affected the surrounding area and its crews are assisting plant staff in responding to the incident – staff are working to fix the leak of liquid ammonia and some ammonia is escaping through a flange joint – joint is being suppressed with water spray – readings within 30 metres of that flange produced zero readings for ammonia) AMMONIA G.I. Fire Department responds to ammonia leak at McCain Foods (fire crews remained on the scene of what appeared to be a major ammonia leak at a foods plant – employees were evacuated from the building due to the potential dangers – the leak was so bad all on-duty fire fighters from Fire Station 1 were re-called to the scene, forcing off-duty members to work the station) AMMONIA Evacuations prompted after ammonia leak at Corydon plant (employees at a plant were evacuated during an ammonia leak from a small line and has been contained – there was a small ammonia leak in a refrigeration building adjacent to the plant at about 10 p.m. – employees were evacuated and two team members were taken to a Hospital as a precaution – both employees were treated and released from the hospital) FORKLIFT FATALITY GP employee dies in apparent fork lift accident (a 22-year veteran, 53, of the mill died – he was found in a warehouse at the mill about 3 a.m. and was unresponsive – paramedics were unable to revive the man – it appears as though he fell from a forklift) FORKLIFT Hudson man flown to hospital after forklift accident (worker, 19, has been flown to a hospital after a forklift accident around 4:30 p.m. – he was unloading sheet-rock when he got between a truck and a forklift – he was taken to a Hospital with severe chest injuries, then flown to another Hospital – he was in stable condition) CONSTRUCTION WORKZONE Meadville area firm’s worker in critical condition after construction accident (a construction worker was injured after he was pinned beneath an asphalt roller that overturned – he is conscious but in critical condition and undergoing treatment at a Hospital – he was working at a paving site, operating a self-propelled rubber tired roller used to compact asphalt – a hydraulic hose for speed control on the roller apparently malfunctioned with the loss of hydraulic pressure, apparently causing the machine to speed up) BACKING UP Redwood City worker’s skull fractured in truck accident (a city worker, 30, had part of his skull crushed when a large pickup truck pinned him against a utility pole as it backed into a driveway – a Ford F-450 backed into him around 9:20 a.m. – he was rushed to a Hospital with serious injuries – it wasn’t clear how the worker became trapped between the truck and the pole) EXCAVATOR FATALITY MINNESOTA MAN DIES AT SITE OF NEW OHIO PIPELINE (a worker, 31, died after an accident at a gas pipeline construction site – he was driving a pipe loader on a hill and tried to jump from it when he thought it was sliding into a ditch – the worker’s foot got caught in the vehicle’s track, and the man fell backward and suffered a head injury) BACKING FATALITY Livermore Man Killed in Berkeley Construction Accident (a construction crew member, 62, laying asphalt on a new track at a Middle School was run over by a truck and killed about 12:30 p.m. – it is possible that there was a problem with the truck’s brakes) WORKZONE and BACKING FATALITY Highway worker, 19, dies after Saint Lazare accident (a highway construction worker, 19, died after being injured at 3 a.m. – according to preliminary investigation, the worker appears to have somehow fallen under the wheels of a work truck while conducting his tasks – his colleague driving the truck appeared to have been initially unaware of the accident) Worker killed in construction accident on TCU campus (a construction worker, 30, died after a chimney fell on him at a construction site – he was pronounced dead at 1:38 a.m. at a Hospital – he died from injuries to the chest and abdomen after being struck by the falling chimney) WORKZONE State trooper and highway worker hit by car in Essex County (a State Police trooper and a highway work zone worker are recovering from injuries after being hit by a vehicle – a GMC pickup truck was traveling north through a work zone around 7:45 p.m. when it ran off the right side of the road – they say it went over a curb and struck a Trooper and a highway engineer – the trooper, the engineer, and a third individual were standing together outside their vehicles off the right side of the road – as the pickup came towards them, the trooper pushed one of the individuals out of the path of the oncoming pickup truck – trooper was taken to a Hospital with minor injuries and was released later that night – the engineer was flown to a Medical Center with serious injuries) EXCAVATION and NATURAL GAS City worker has burns over 20 percent of his body (a worker, 42, injured in a gas line fire is out of surgery and is expected to fully recover – he and his crew were repairing a water line when a worker in a backhoe hit a reported unmarked gas line causing the line to ignite and burn 20 percent of his body – “The hat was burned to his head, his goggles were melted on and his shirt was burned” – he suffered burns to his arms, hands, back, stomach and head) ELECTRICAL Worker burned in electric shock (a construction worker suffered horrific burns when he was hit by 11,000 volts on a building site – it is not yet clear how the worker came into contact with the cable) WORKZONE Road Worker Hurt In Lackawanna County (a county worker was hurt while directing traffic on a road project around 9 a.m. – the worker was taken to a hospital – no other details) TRENCH Man partially buried in construction accident (worker, 40, was hospitalized after a construction accident partially buried him – he was part of an excavating crew when the walls of the 8-foot deep trench collapsed, trapping him from the waist down – he was freed by other workers on the scene and taken to a medical facility in stable condition with injuries to his legs and pelvis as well as internal injuries) TRENCH FATALITIES OSHA launches investigation into deadly trench collapse (workers, 50 and 46, died after being trapped in a trench at some Apartments – asphyxia was the cause of death – a 20-man rescue team tried to save the two construction workers trapped in a hole at the apartment complex’s construction site – the men were using a tamp to pack in the dirt – six people were in the trench at the time – four escaped and tried to help the other men get out – the trench is 30 feet deep, but the men were trapped 12 feet under) MISCELLANEOUS CONFINED SPACE RESCUE Firefighters rescue construction worker in Springfield (firefighters used a scissor-lift to help rescue a construction worker at a Technical Community College – the victim was working in the boiler room of the college when he suffered what appeared to be a head injury – the injury occurred while the worker was in an evaluated confined space around 7:30 a.m. – the worker was trapped around 15 to 20 feet above the ground – he was taken to a Medical Center and is expected to be OK) TRACTOR FATALITY Orchard worker killed in Wemen machine accident (a man, 55, has died at an orchard after the tractor he was using ran him over – it was believed that the man had been using the tractor and stopped it to get off – he was then run over by the tractor – it was initially thought that the victim had become entangled in machinery) TANKER TRUCK EXPLOSION Truck explodes in north Fort Worth, burns 2 workers (two workers were burned when a tanker truck near them exploded at a repair shop – the workers were taken to a Hospital, suffering from burns to their faces and hands – the company is a 5,000-square-foot repair shop for tanker trucks – two employees were working on a tank of one truck when a tanker truck nearby exploded – fire officials believe that some type of fuel may have been in the tanker that exploded) CRUSHED Worker crushed by truck axle in Alliance (a preliminary autopsy report and investigation show that the death of a worker, 46, was accidental – his employer discovered his body in a garage – he was working alone when he was crushed by a large truck axle – he was pronounced dead at the scene) UPDATE on LOTO FATALITY 20 Yr Old Lifeguard Fatally Crushed At Texas Waterpark (OSHA has cited a Beach Waterpark and Resort for six safety violations regarding hazardous energy sources that fatally crushed a 20-year-old lifeguard and severely injured a maintenance supervisor – the lifeguard and maintenance supervisor entered a wave generation machine when it was inadvertently activated and causing the two workers to be pinned between the gate and the wall of the wave machine) EXPLOSION Explosion, Fire Reported At Iowa Recycling Plant (an accident led to an explosion and fire at a recycling plant – took only 20 minutes for firefighters to get under control – the explosion rattled windows in the area – the fire was caused when a crane operator turned over a car, igniting gas vapors that had accumulated in a void space in the pile) |
What’s New @ SAFTENG.net EPA RMP Citations @ natural gas compressor stations ($93K and Emergency Venting and MI frequencies)
EPA RMP GDC Citations @ NG Plant (Hotwork and $35K)
2013 Photo of the Week #35 (Electrical)
2013 Video of the Week #35 (CATASTROPHIC FAILURE of Tanker Truck)
Chemical Advisory: Safe Storage, Handling, and Management of Ammonium Nitrate
Ammonia Engine/Machinery Rooms and Hazardous Locations is NOT driven by PSM/RMP alone
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