44 incidents & 3 updates (8/24/12)

2012 Fatality Tracker

Story of Interest

Atlanta safety officer accused of causing accident (a city public safety employee is suspected of creating a dangerous situation – a public works safety officer allegedly smashed into a garbage truck that he was monitoring – officials say that when the vehicle hit the back of a garbage truck, it threw a worker to the ground – his job is to supervise how other workers handle dangerous jobs – he was arrested after being accused of making up a story to police about the accident)

INDUSTRIAL

NJ Transit worker killed in on-duty accident (a longtime agency worker, 44, was killed in an accident at a Maintenance Complex – he died from head injuries he sustained in an accident involving track equipment – he had been a track man with the Transit agency for 11 years – the accident occurred around 1:30 p.m. – he was taken to a hospital, where he died a short time later)

LOTO/GUARDING Worker Airlifted To Trauma Center After Manhattan Industrial Accident (a worker at a manufacturing plant was rushed to the hospital after reportedly being trapped in a piece of machinery – employee had a severe laceration apparently from an industrial accident – fire officials at the scene said they received a report that someone was caught in a machine at the site but when emergency responders arrived, the worker had already been extricated from the equipment and was taken to the hospital)

Komatsu worker injured in machinery accident (a worker was seriously injured in a machinery accident at the plant – he was transported to a Medical Center by ambulance shortly after 11 p.m. – details about the accident were unavailable)

FLASH FIRE ConocoPhillips said Lost Cabin plant accident was a flash fire; confirms 4 injured (four workers burned in the flash fire were contract workers performing maintenance at the plant – a flash fire that extinguished itself immediately occurred at approximately 8:30 a.m. MDT during a planned maintenance operation – four contract employees working on the site who were injured and have been transported to receive medical attention – all personnel have been accounted for and the plant is secure – there was no gas release and no evacuation of the local community – condition reports on the injured workers have not been released)

FATAL EXPLOSION 1 killed, 1 injured in Durant plant explosion (an accident at a manufacturing plant killed a plant worker and left another man with serious injuries – fire officials think a crane fell and the machine attached to it exploded bringing down the roof and machinery inside, injuring the two workers, one of whom, later died – the two workers suffered blunt trauma injuries after they were hit several times by falling debris from machinery – one of the workers was in stable condition, the other died shortly after the accident – “There’s a really large hole in the roof and it appears to be from the explosion of the plasma cutter in the building” – they’re trying to figure out what caused the explosion)

MOVING VEHICLE FATALITY Another employee killed in Bokaro Steel Plant accident (an employee died after he was hit by a truck on a road inside the plant – the accident took place around 8.10 a.m. in front of Blast Furnace-III when he was going to his workplace – a speeding truck hit him from behind and he died on spot – this is the second fatal accident on the plant premises since August 10, when a contract worker died in Batter-IV of Coke Oven)

Car Plant FATALITY Employee Killed at Nissan’s Decherd Plant (an accident has killed a worker at a powertrain plant – the employee worked for a supplier – in January, an employee who works for one of plants transportation companies was killed outside the assembly plant)

LOGGING FATALITY Man killed when falling tree pins him (a worker, 30, has died in a logging accident – he was killed when a tree he was cutting fell, pinning him between it and a bulldozer blade)

FALL into GRAIN SILO and CS RESCUE Sanford silo accident never should have happened, company says (a contractor was injured after he fell into a silo of dry dog food – contractor out of hospital – he accidentally stepped on the lid to a grain chute and fell 40 feet – his leg was caught in a drilling device, and it took about 40 rescuers more than three hours to free him – he is doing well after dislocating his shoulder)

UPDATE Forklift Accident Sets Off Chain of Destruction That Delays Howrey Wind-Down (a fatal forklift accident at a warehouse is delaying the wind-down – a chain of destruction resulted when a forklift hit a storage rack and collapsed much of the roof of the facility, killing a worker – the June 28 accident at the Recall facility has put the fate of 60,000 boxes of stored documents into limbo)

VEHICLE FATALITY Worker struck, killed by cement truck (a worker, 55, died after being hit by a cement truck while he was working at a cement plant – he was in the driveway of the plant when he was hit by the truck at 10:03 a.m. – police officers and firefighters attempted to revive the man, but were unsuccessful – he was employed by the plant and the incident was witnessed by coworkers)

LINEMAN ELECTROCUTED Worker dies after being electrocuted in York County (worker, 41, working on power lines is dead after being electrocuted around 7:45 a.m. – the victim was re-routing power lines when he came into contact with a 7,000 volt line)

HOTWORK Fire breaks out at gold mine (a fire broke out at a gold mine as a result of sparks caused by welding activities – the fire damaged around 120 metres of timbering from the mine’s level 2 up to the surface – there were no injuries during the incident)

FLASH FIRE Two men burned in oil well fire (a cigarette lighter may have caused a fire at an oil well site that seriously burned two men – two men were seriously burned in an oil well explosion at 12:05 p.m. – workers, 52 and 48, were working at the well were badly burned – they were taken by ambulance to a Medical Center and then flown to a burn center – one was in fair condition and one was in critical condition – they were doing maintenance near an oil tank at the well site – a preliminary investigation shows that a cigarette lighter was being used near the tank and it caused vapors or fumes to catch fire – at least one other worker was on the location but was not near the fire and was not hurt)

HOTWORK EXPLOSION with DRUM Man Badly Burned After 55-Gallon Drum Explodes (a man was badly burned after a 55-gallon barrel drum that he thought was empty exploded when he tried to cut it open at about 1:30 p.m. – it turns out the barrel was full of fence paint that was extremely flammable, and the cutting tool caused an explosion so big it set off house alarms in the neighborhood, and led to a flood of 911 calls – officials transported him to a Hospital with what police termed severe second and third degree burns all over his body)

STEAM BURNS Worker badly burned by steam (a cleaning worker, 43, was left badly burned after a valve on a steam cleaner was not closed properly leaving him blasted with super heated steam and leaving him badly burned – he was cleaning a tanker with a steam cleaner – he connected the steam cleaner to the fuelling point, a valve should ensure the steam does not escape out of the tanker – however, the valve where the man was standing was not closed properly and as the steam was switched on it escaped out of the valve, severely burning the man)

EXPLOSION Explosion rocks oil storage depot in Russia (an explosion ripped through a petroleum storage depot, leaving one person injured – a rupture in an oxygen container’s hose caused the blast and subsequent blaze – the explosion damaged the gas burner at the oil depot – a worker, 31, also suffered face and neck burns in the incident, and was taken to hospital to receive medical treatment – he is said to be in stable condition)

FATAL EXPLOSION Blast kills 1, injures 13 at S.Korea chemical plant (one worker was killed and 13 injured when an explosion ripped a tank apart at a chemical plant  – a 200-litre (52-gallon) tank containing inflammable material exploded at the plant – the explosion did not start a fire and property damage was slight)

UPDATE on FATAL EXPLOSION @ WWTP Struthers Cited for Deadly Plant Explosion (a deadly explosion last spring has resulted in some significant findings by the state against the city – Bureau of Workers’ Compensation this week issued 10 citations relating to the methane explosion at the city’s waste water treatment plant March 1 that claimed the lives of two workers – investigators determined gas had built up in a compressor room where the employees were performing maintenance work and ignited, leaving both me with extensive burns – both men died weeks later – among the “serious hazard” violations included in the BWC’s citation were that the workers were not properly trained, were working with electrical equipment too close to gas collection equipment, were using improper equipment and tools and were not required to wear electrical protective equipment – one of the citations claims employees had equipment that wasn’t even meant for the work being done – investigators found a particular volt-ohm testing meter was being used in the compressor area that had specific instructions from the manufacturer stating it was not approved for use in areas where dust or vapors could ignite and explode – the city also was cited for failing to post the proper signage warning workers of potential electrical hazards. Each of the citations requires the city to take corrective action or face fines)

DUST Fire Breaks Out Twice At Sherman Factory (crews were called out twice to battle flames at a manufacturing facility that makes insulation – they had left the scene several hours earlier, after the fire first broke out around 6:20 a.m., causing the building to be evacuated – there was a small fire in the filtering system, and according to the fire department, it was actually ground-up dust created in the process making the insulation that caught fire – the fire was between the machine and a vent that goes to the roof – the fire caused around $200,000 damage including lost production time, and just a small spark may have been enough to ignite the dust – no one was injured in the fire)

AMMONIA Ammonia sickens at least 17 at Texas meat plant (an ammonia leak at a meat packing plant has sickened dozens of people – 17 patients were transported to the hospital for examination – the examinations were precautionary and no serious injuries or illnesses were found)

AMMONIA Ammonia leak reported at Ogden Industrial Park (the incident was reported at 7:44 p.m. at an ice & frozen storage business – it was empty at the time and there were no injuries – earlier in the day crews were working on the ammonia system and on a pump that keeps the chemical from building up – however the pump failed and a release valve intermittently sent ammonia into the air – an employee entered the business shortly before 9 p.m. and alleviated the ammonia problem)

CHLORINE Chlorine leak closes two Sunnyside streets (a chlorine leak from a city well has prompted authorities to close an  intersection restricting traffic in and out of the police station to law enforcement only – at the city’s No. 8 well house, chlorine gas is escaping from a regulator joining two 150-pound tanks used to treat the city’s water supply – nobody is injured and they anticipate no evacuations, but authorities have advised people in a nearby trailer park and the Law and Justice Center to stay indoors – city crews plan to allow the tanks to vent before trying to fix them)

FORKLIFT FATALITY Man killed in forklift accident (a worker, 69, was killed after being trapped under a forklift while hauling wood – he died after he apparently lost control of the forklift on an incline and the vehicle rolled on top of him at about 1:23 p.m.)

FORKLIFT Man sent to hospital after industrial accident (a man was sent to a hospital this morning after his hand was caught underneath a forklift in an industrial accident – crews used “air-lifting bags” to lift the 3000 lb machine off the man’s hand – although the man’s hand was caught, it was not crushed – the individual was a 25-year-old man who was changing a tire at the time of the accident)

CONSTRUCTION

CRUSHED Worker dies in industrial accident in Oklahoma City’s Bricktown (a construction worker dismantling the old Interstate 40 was pinned between two pieces of construction equipment and killed – he was pinned between a trailer and excavation equipment after helping unload an I-beam from the bridge)

WORKZONE FATALITY Construction worker killed in wreck on I-10 (a construction worker was killed just before midnight after being hit by a van – construction crews were working overnight to repave the outside lanes when a man driving a minivan was involved in an accident with a woman driving a car – the man over-corrected after hitting her and veered into the construction area, hitting two workers before smashing into a construction vehicle – one of the workers hit was taken to a Medical Center, and underwent surgery before dying – the other worker who was hit is expected to be okay)

FATAL FALL Worker killed in scaffolding fall identified (a worker, 42, was killed when he fell from scaffolding – no other details)

WORKZONE FATALITY Oakland County Roads Worker Killed On The Job (an employee with the Road Commission was killed while on the job – a passing motorist reported an overturned county road commission truck – when officers arrived, they extracted the 58-year-old driver who was entrapped in the cab of the truck – he was pronounced dead at the scene – the man was on a job, putting down material on the road when the accident occurred, but it’s not clear why or how the truck flipped over – he was a long-serving veteran of the Road Commission – no other cars were involved nor injures reported)

FATAL COLLAPSE At least 4 killed, 1 buried in northwestern China construction site accident (at least four people were killed and a fifth buried after a construction site accident – the accident occurred when a equipment collapsed at a construction site of a carpet factory around 10 a.m. – the collapse trapped a total of eighteen workers at the time of the accident – rescuers had found 17 workers, although four of them were confirmed dead – the remaining worker remains buried)

PALLET JACK (???) Construction Worker Injured by Debris at Greenwich Village Site (a male worker, believed to be in his 30s, was awake and conscious after the accident – he was taken to a Hospital – a truck driver who witnessed the accident said workers at the site were loading wood into the building when a hand truck overturned, spilling wood onto the worker’s legs)

SAW KICK BACK Worker impaled in west-end industrial accident (a worker has been impaled by a piece of wood during an industrial accident – he was working with a saw at a residence when a piece of wood kicked back – he was conscious and breathing when paramedics arrived, has been rushed to a trauma centre with serious injuries)

Worker trapped at brewery died a horrid death (the worker, 28, fell 20 feet down the shaft on his first day on the job at the Brewery – he had removed his harness and tennis shoes, which he could have used to bang against the small black metal door that might have looked to him in the dark like a way out – the blood on the door, padlocked from the outside, would indicate that he had used his hands too – his disappearance last week, just hours after he arrived on the job site, set off an agonizing week of pavement-pounding searches by his family members, including frustrating visits to the police and to the brewery – their fruitless search would end Tuesday when construction crew members noticed flies swarming and smelled decay near the smokestack, where no workers should have been – they got the key to open the 2-foot-by-3-foot door and found a man’s body so badly decomposed that he remains unidentified –  a supervisor told the worker to take their tools to the top of the 115-year-old building, but an hour and a half later, the roofer was nowhere to be found – the supervisor searched all over the site and asked other workers if they’d seen him – why he went inside the Boiler House and entered the metal-clad breeching duct on the second floor remains a mystery – the duct, which is 15 feet long and looks from the outside like an enclosed elevated walkway, once carried the condensation from the brewery’s boilers to the smokestack – to get inside the duct, he would have had to climb over wooden barriers – then, he would have had to crawl or crouch, the duct is only 4 feet tall and 5 feet wide, in the darkness before reaching the smokestack and falling – the duct and the smokestack weren’t part of the renovation)

CRANE/BOOM TRUCK OSHA investigating Howland boom truck accident that caused power outage (a bucket truck’s arm was extended enough to knock a power line onto a passing car and caused 1,100 utility customers to lose electricity for several hours – no injuries were reported when the accident occurred at about 10:15 a.m.)

FALL into MANHOLE Worker rescued after falling down manhole at Amherst College (a construction worker, in his 50’s, had to be rescued after falling down a manhole just before 10:45 A.M. – he was among workers doing a campus infrastructure project – prior to the accident, the workers had removed the manhole cover and had put plywood over it – the worker made a wrong step and fell as they were trying to put the metal manhole cover back in place – he fell about 10 feet down to an underground cement vault that houses steam pipes for the campus)

TRENCH FATALITY Sanpete Co. rescue volunteer dies in work accident (a longtime County search and rescue volunteer, 41, and one-time commander has died in a work accident – he was a plumbing contractor and had jumped into a trench to work on the septic system and got caught between a moving backhoe and the wall of the trench and was killed)

FALL from SCAFFOLDING Man falls at least 2 storeys, lands on building awning (a man was taken to hospital after falling at least two storeys and landing on an awning at an apartment building under construction – his injuries aren’t believed to be life-threatening – the company was taking down scaffolding when the fall happened)

WORKPLACE VIOLENCE

2 killed, 9 wounded outside Empire State Building (a laid-off worker fatally shot an executive at his former company outside the Empire State Building setting off a chaotic showdown with police in front of one of the world’s best-known landmarks – officers killed the gunman and at least nine others were wounded, some by stray police gunfire)

MISCELLANEOUS

BALER FATALITY Farm Machinery Accident Claims Life (a farmer, 47, is dead after an accident involving harvesting machinery – he was killed after getting caught in a round baler)

WINCH FATALITY Winch accident leads to shrimp-boat worker’s death (a 15-year-old shrimp boat worker was killed while working on a shrimp boat – he died after getting stuck in a winch device that pulls in and lets out cable for hauling in shrimp – “The individual had baggy shorts and his shorts had got caught up into the capstan or the drum of the winch that pulled lines – he was actually pulled into the winch and suffered a head injury – it’s unclear whether he was working with the device or standing near it)

ELECTRICAL Tree trimmer shocked by power lines still alive (a tree trimmer was shocked while trying to cut down a towering tree – he remained hospitalized – incident happened about 3:20 p.m. – the work crew had spent most of the day trying to take down a 40-foot kapok tree with the help of a crane)

FORKLIFT Craig woman run over by forklift (a worker, 26, was seriously injured when she was run over by a forklift she had been operating – she was operating a forklift and the forklift came out of gear and started traveling down a hill toward a pond – she jumped from the moving forklift, however the machinery ran over her on its way down the hill and landed in the pond)