44 incidents & 1 update (10/28/11)

2011 Fatality Tracker 

Industrial

CRUSH FATALITY Logger Killed in Lebanon County (a worker, 55, for a logging company was killed at a job site when he was crushed when a piece of heavy machinery collapsed upon him – the county coroner pronounced the unidentified victim dead at the scene)

FATALITY @ STEEL MILL

LOTO AMPUTATION Worker loses part of hand while cleaning equipment (an example of the dangers associated with removing protective guards from equipment, which help stop workers being injured, has seen a man lose most of his hand – worker was helping to clean a piece of machinery in a factory when his hand was pulled between rotating cogs after a safety guard had been removed from the equipment – his hand was crushed resulting in the loss of four fingers, the majority of his thumb and a fraction of his palm – even after this incident a second occurred when a worker tried to fix a blockage in a piece of machinery and ended up with a broken arm – he had not been given any extra training to perform the task which fell outside of his usual role, which added to the severity of the situation – once again the safety features had been modified with a by-pass device fitted over-riding a safety control which would have prevented the accident)

CRANE Steel worker injured after 25-ton girder hits him (a steel worker has been critically injured at a plant after a 25-ton steel girder hit him – the man has several broken ribs, damaged vertebrae and possibly a punctured lung – injuries are not life-threatening – the steel girders are being manufactured to support bridges along Interstate 15 as part of a $1 billion reconstruction project)

GARBAGE TRUCK FATALITY Cumberland Co. sanitation worker killed after being run over (a sanitation worker was killed after being run over – the driver of the sanitation truck was backing up when worker, 20, fell off the back of the truck – the other workers could not get the driver’s attention fast enough, and he was run over – according to an accident report, the driver of the truck, 64, was going about 15 miles per hour)

ELECTRICAL EXPLOSION Explosion Injures Three in Anaheim (three men were taken to the hospital with burn injuries – the three men were injured when an above-ground transformer exploded – the victims were “talking and conscious” after the accident – one worker was released from the hospital shortly after noon to recuperate at home – two of the workers were contractors and another is a city Public Utilities employee – the cause of the explosion has not been determined)

FORKLIFT Worker trapped in machinery (a fire crew rescued a worker who was trapped underneath a a Zoom Boom while working – a Zoom Boom is a 2,100 pound forklift – he was bleeding from the head and suffered shoulder trauma as a result of the accident – he is being treated in hospital)

FORKLIFT FATALITY Worker Dies In Crawfordsville Factory Accident (a contractor, 47, died after he was struck by a forklift just after 11 a.m. at a Steel plant – he was pronounced dead less than an hour later at a hospital)

GUARDING/LOTO FATALITY Man killed in industrial machinery accident (a worker, 40, was found dead by a co-worker at a rock crushing facility just after 1pm – no other details)

RAILYARD FATALITY Man killed in Bethlehem Intermodal railyard accident (a man was killed in an accident at a Intermodal railyard – preliminary reports are that the worker was pinned at 7 p.m. between two vehicles in an area where truck containers are moved to railroad cars)

FUMES 130 workers faint in Cambodia (at least 130 garment workers were hospitalised as they fainted after inhaling insecticide – management sprayed pesticides in the factory just a few hours before the workers entered the factory hall to work, so the smell caused them to fall ill – the workers felt fatigue, dizziness and nausea – the victims were now stable and some had left hospitals)

FURNACE EXPLOSION 2 injured in western Pa. industrial furnace blast (two workers were injured in an explosion at a railcar parts factory where another man died in an industrial accident over the summer – the workers were injured in a furnace explosion – they were hospitalized in good condition – a 51-year-old man was killed in an industrial accident at the same plant in July)

MINE FATALITIES 13 trapped mine workers in China confirmed dead (all 13 mine workers trapped in a flooded coal mine have been confirmed dead – the bodies of the 13 miners who died in the October 11 flood had all been retrieved after nearly two weeks of rescue efforts – twenty-four miners were working underground when the accident occurred – eleven managed to escape)

FLASH FIRE w/ ALCOHOL Gas explosion burns O’Brien’s Glass worker (a worker was taken to a Burn Center after a can of denatured alcohol exploded in his face – he was severely burned on his head, arms and torso at 11:45 a.m. – he was working on laminated glass – after the explosion, he ran through the shop until a colleague used a fire extinguisher)

UPDATE on CONFINED SPACE FATALITY Hurt MRPL worker succumbs to burns (the death toll in the accidental blast at a crude oil storage tank has gone up to two – while one worker, 19 died on the spot, another employee, 22, who was undergoing treatment in a private hospital has succumbed to burn injuries – he was admitted to the burns unit with nearly 70% burns)

FATAL EXPLOSION @ GAS DRILLING SITE

ELECTROCUTION Factory worker electrocuted (a factory worker was electrocuted in a dyeing factory when he accidentally touched electricity wire – he received a severe electric shock and became unconscious – his colleagues rushed to help him but they also received an electric shock and got unconscious – they were taken to a Hospital where the worker died)

WELDING w/ FLASH FIRE Superior firefighters called to Enbridge for welding incident (firefighters responded to an energy petroleum pumping and storage facility after vapors flashed during a welding operation – a crew was completing pipe modifications at a pumping station within the terminal – while welding, the crew experienced a brief flame that went out immediately – Fire Department was called in as a precaution to ensure the area was safe – no injuries or property damage occurred)

HOTWORK FIRE Fire breaks out at Sessions Peanut (a fire at peanut company caused minor damage to an old storage silo shortly before noon – the silo was no longer in use and contractors were in the process of disassembling the silo when the fire broke out – a torch ignited some peanut oil residue inside the silo)

REFINERY FIRE Fire at refinery quickly doused (technicians working nearby discovered a fire beside a tank at the refinery at 5 p.m. – the 12-person on-site emergency response team, with the assistance of the city Fire Department, extinguished the fire 30 minutes later – no one was injured in the fire, although three men working in the vicinity visited the first aid station as a precaution given their proximity to the tank – no medical attention was required – the tank beside the fire holds spent acid, which is a non-flammable material used in the manufacturing of gasoline – the insulation on the outside of the tank was damaged by the fire – the cause of the fire is being investigated)

No injuries reported in fire at Beatrice plant (a manufacturing plant has resumed production after a fire – the plant’s fire sprinkler system kept down the flames before firefighters arrived to extinguish the blaze – no injuries were reported by firefighters or the 22 plant employees who were on duty – it looked like an air compressor’s cooling system failed and that framed walls around the compressor had been blown out)

DUST COLLECTION and SILO FIRE/EXPLOSION 4-alarm blaze at wood pellet plant in Jaffrey (fire crews responded to the reported building fire around 6:18 p.m. to find a smoke in the building and a fire in the cooling tower, which is part of the process of manufacturing the wood pellets – an explosion escalated the two-alarm fire to a four alarm fire – crews were initiating a fire attack when there was an explosion in the bag house, which is another part of the process – at that point crews were evacuated – the fire caused minimal damage, and there were no injuries to fire personnel or employees)

FATAL FALL into INDUSTRIAL DRYER Cintas Worker Killed On Job (a death investigation is under way at a local plant after an employee, 55, was killed on the job – details are sparse, but the workers have been sent home and the plant partially shut down as they begin an investigation into this death – at about 4 a.m. an employee got caught inside an industrial dryer – he came in early to get the equipment going before the rest of the workers arrive – he was servicing an industrial dryer when he fell in – he was not discovered until later until another early worker came in – coroner said the cause of death was extensive blunt force injuries)

CRANE FATALITY Man dies after crane accident at Tilbury Docks (a man has died after a crane accident at 1.37pm – the machine toppled over onto its side and the driver had fallen out of the cab – the driver’s cab is situated about 10 feet from the ground, and in this case the impact had caused the driver to fall out through the glass cab – he was declared dead at the scene)

CHLORINE One person hospitalized after chlorine leak at Jefferson City water treatment plant (one person is in the hospital after a minor chlorine leak at a water treatment plant around 11:15 a.m. during normal operations – paramedics transported one worker to a local hospital for observation – operations at the plant returned to normal in less than an hour)

Construction

CRANE FATALITY Worker dies in crane collapse (NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED – a worker died after a crane collapsed at the construction site of a real estate project in Shanghai)

TRENCH FATALITY Workers buried alive in drainage project accident (two workers, 60 and 40, died and two others were injured when an 8-meter deep excavation at a project site caved in and buried the victims – a 6-meter wide portion of the excavation crumbled when a back hoe accidentally hit its side close to the foundation – it took emergency rescue teams more than 1 hour to extricate the buried victims – the last vicitim was recovered only after 2 hours of careful digging)

FATAL FALL Worker dies in Chelsea Piers construction accident (a construction worker, 36, died after falling more than 50 feet from an open roof 50 to 60 feet above the ground just before 1 p.m. – gusty winds may have played a role in the death – preliminary interviews with witnesses indicate he did not wear a harness or straps while he worked on the roof – two of his brothers also were working at the construction site)

TRENCH Man knocked into trench by heavy equipment (a construction worker, 28, was rushed to the hospital after he plunged more than 20 feet down into a trench box at a drainage site – he suffered injuries that were not life threatening, though he likely dislocated a hip – he had been standing on a ladder about four feet inside the trench box when a bucket on an excavation machine came loose and tumbled down, knocking another ladder as it fell – this caused the worker to lose his balance, and he hit the six-foot tall bucket as he came down)

ELECTRICAL @ SOLAR FARM

TRENCH Rockland crews rescue worker from Big Dig cave-in (a worker at the site of a sewer construction project was injured when a portion of the pavement he was standing on at street level collapsed, taking him and debris into a 7-foot-deep trench at approximately 2:20 p.m. – when Fire and EMS personnel arrived, the man was lying at a 45-degree angle against the wall of the trench – the worker was standing approximately 10 feet away from the edge of the trench when it caved in, throwing the man into the hole – a large piece of pavement, the size of a pickup, then flipped over him into the hole)

FALL from ROOF OSHA investigating rooftop fall (roofing company employee, 43, fell about 20 feet – the company that hired a construction worker who fell from the roof was investigated before for another fall – about 11 a.m. the construction worker, who was on the penthouse roof, fell 20 feet to the building’s third-floor roof – the worker landed on his feet, breaking his ankle, and then fell onto his back)

FALL thru SKYLIGHT Worker injured in fall at Atwood library (a construction worker, 50, was airlifted to a hospital after falling through the roof of a Public Library at 11:22 a.m. – workers were replacing the roof and it has a big skylight and it was open – he fell head first through the skylight. He was partially conscious and confused)

WORKZONE FATALITY Officials ID man killed in construction accident in Great Falls (worker, 31, was killed on a road construction project after being hit by a dump truck)

WORKZONE FATALITY NY construction worker killed in hit-run crash (a hit-and-run crash killed a construction worker, 49, about 1:35 a.m. – he and a co-worker were loading a milling machine onto a trailer – they were on the side of the road when he was struck – he was pronounced dead at the scene – his co-worker was not injured)

FATAL FALL from ROOF FATAL FALL Worker, 30, falls to death (worker, 30, reportedly fell to his death while assisting in re-sheeting a roof at about 1pm – he fell several feet before hitting the floor – he was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital)

HOTWORK Man injured in explosion at St. Louis construction site (a construction worker suffered burns on more than 90 percent of his body in an explosion at a worksite at about 9:15 a.m. – it was triggered when the worker used a blow torch to try to cut open a barrel marked “flammable” – other workers who were at the site were uninjured – the explosion caused a small fire, which firefighters were able to extinguish fairly quickly)

CRANE FATALITY Crane operator dies in accident on Bukom (a crane operator died after his machine tumbled into a pit at a construction site – he was crushed inside the cab after it tipped over and fell down the 3m-deep hole – early investigations show he had been trying to install a steel post)

MIscellaneouS

LAWNCARE Semi hops curb, hits worker (a man, 52, was struck by a log truck that jumped a curb while making a right turn – he was transported to a hospital, where he was listed in extremely critical condition – he and his son were performing lawn care work for a restaurant at the intersection when the accident occurred – witness saw two men, one of whom was operating a leaf blower, standing at the corner when the fully loaded log truck trailer jumped the curb and nearly hit a utility pole – worker was struck by the trailer when it drove over the sidewalk)

AUTO MECHANIC FATALITY Industrial accident kills worker (a mechanic was fatally injured while working – he was struck in the chest by industrial equipment while working – he was rushed to a Hospital, where he died)

GUARDING/LOTO FATALITY on COMBINE Newville farm worker dies in combine incident (a teen, 19, was killed in a farming accident while he was harvesting corn about 9:45 a.m. – the combine he was operating became clogged – he got out to check for a clog and became entangled in the auger on the front of the combine – he was pronounced dead at the scene as the result of multiple accidental traumatic injuries)

HAUNTED HOUSE Teen worker at haunted house ‘Creepyworld’ found caught in noose (a 17-year-old girl who works as an actress to scare guests at a haunted house was seriously injured when she somehow got caught in a noose being used as a prop – at about 8:45 p.m. a co-worker found the girl unconscious in the noose – sheriff’s officials said she was unconscious when she was taken down from the noose, and she was rushed to an area hospital – her condition was unavailable Friday morning – officials didn’t know if the girl was working that specific section by herself – a co-worker who makes rounds to check the safety of the employees found her in the noose)

FATAL FALL from LADDER Comcast worker dies after falling from ladder (a worker, 26, died after falling off a ladder and landing on his head about 9:30 a.m. – he was pronounced dead at 9:59 a.m. at a Hospital)

FARM SILO Falling Silo Critically Injures Boyle County Farm Worker (a 21-year-old man working on a farm was critically injured when a Silo fell on top of him just after 6 p.m. – he used a jack to hold up a big aluminum grain Silo while he did some work underneath it – the jack fell out of place, causing the whole thing to come crashing down, crushing the victim’s chest –  people around the man jumped in, using whatever objects they could find to lift up the Silo and get him out from underneath it – he suffered life-threatening injuries – he is listed in critical condition)