47 Incidents & 2 Updates (1/26/12)

since 2006

since 2007

since 2012

2012 Fatality Tracker

Industrial

AMPUTATION  Worker in recovery after arm severed in North Lauderdale accident (a man in his early to mid-40s accidentally severed his arm while working at a wastewater pumping station – he  was on duty about noon when his arm was severed “about mid-wrist below his elbow” at the pumping station – he was reportedly conscious as he was taken to a hospital)

FATAL FALL  Worker Falls To Death From McCarthur Bridge (a railroad worker on a Bridge fell to his death around 12:15pm – the man fell near 6th street and landed on the ground below and died of injuries related to the 40 to 50 foot fall)

LOADING DOCK FATALITY  Man killed at Omaha loading dock of bakery outlet (a man has died after being struck by a vehicle at the loading dock a little before 3 a.m. – no other details)

GARBAGE WORKER STRUCK  Garbage worker remains in hospital after accident (worker, 27, was struck by a vehicle – he had just emptied a garbage can when he was struck by a vehicle – the victim was pinned between the Chevrolet Cavalier and the garbage truck – the garbage truck did have its lights activated, and he was wearing a reflective safety vest – however, the driver did not see him and struck him and the garbage truck – he suffered multiple leg fractures and was taken by medical helicopter to a Hospital where he was listed as being in guarded condition)

PIPELINE  2 Indian Workers Injured on Gas Pipeline Construction Site (two workers were injured when they were working at a pipeline construction site – the incident took place when the pipes were being connected one by one – one worker was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and has been treated for injuries to his hands – the other received minor injuries to his fingers)

RAILROAD FATALITY  Man struck and killed by BNSF train (a county worker was killed after being struck by a train around 2:30 p.m. – the man was dragged about a quarter of a mile and killed him instantly – no word yet on what the county employee might have been doing on the railroad tracks)

STEEL PLANT  Injured worker at Nucor Steel Wallingford plant taken to hospital (a worker at a steel plant was injured when his arm got caught between two metal rollers – workers at the plant had already freed the accident victim when fire fighters arrived on the scene – he was taken to a Hospital with extensive injuries to his arm)

DECAPITATION  Woman’s head severed in freak accident (a worker, 40, was killed when her saree got stuck in the fan attached to a power tiller and her neck came under its blades as she was sucked into it, while working on separating rice from the chaff at a coffee plantation – she was employed at the plantation, along with seven of her relatives, to pluck coffee berries – she was searching for the earring she had lost and on seeing a shining item in the heap of paddy, she thought it was her earring and bent to pick it up  -the fan sliced away her neck and her head hit the nearby wall, while the body was thrown 10 feet away)

OIL DRILLING RIG  Eastern Utah oil rig worker hurt (an oil drilling rig worker, 48, was seriously injured when his hand was caught in machinery about noon – he reportedly caught his hand between moving pipes at the drill site as they were being lowered into the well bore – his injuries were not considered to be life-threatening)

UPDATE on LOTO AMPUTATION  Feds fault Hormel on safety violations after worker loses arm (a worker, 35, was cleaning equipment on July 20 at a turkey processing plant when his arm became snared in a moving production line – the arm was reattached after he was flown to a hospital – OSHA has proposed fines of $318,000 – OSHA issued 11 citations, seven of them deemed “serious” and four “willful” – worker was cleaning in a room in which turkeys, shackled to a conveyor, are killed by carbon dioxide – OSHA cited the plant for not cutting power to the line while he was cleaning, and for not adequately ensuring that the room was free of carbon dioxide while he worked)

CONVEYOR  Worker hurt in industrial accident (a man was airlifted to a hospital after his arm became caught in a conveyor belt at a sand and gravel plant – he suffered serious injuries to his right arm – he was in a stable condition)

FATAL EXPLOSION Two workers missing, 19 injured after Burns Lake mill explosion (a mill was destroyed by an explosion and fire – the accident sent 19 other employees to hospital, some with extremely serious injuries – witnesses described the horror of seeing workers exit the mill with their hard hats melted on to their heads – a 33-year veteran of the mill, who was working out in the log yard, said the explosion blew off the roof, which came down and collapsed the building – there were reports that some workers smelled gas before the explosion – UPDATE  Remains of second person found at site of burned-out BC sawmill)

FATAL FALL from OIL RIG Oilfield worker dies in fall from derrick in Cass County (a man, 41, died in an oilfield accident at a drilling rig – he was killed after he fell about 50 feet from the derrick to the floor of the drilling rig at 2:22 a.m.)

FATAL EXPLOSION during HOTWORK Worker killed in blast at MRPL (a worker, 25, was killed and five others sustained injuries in an explosion at the Sulphur Recovery Unit – all the injured were rushed to a hospital and they are out of danger – the blast occurred during welding work at the site)

PORT FATALITY  Death of port worker crushed by 8-ton container under investigation (a longshoreman, 47, who died was crushed by a 40-foot, 8-ton container – he was working as a ship boss, overseeing the loading and unloading of 20-foot containers, which were surrounded by larger, heavier 40-foot containers – a shore-side crane was moving a 20-foot container about 7 p.m. when one of the 40-foot, 8-ton containers tumbled, crushing the worker – the exact series of events is still under investigation)

CHEMICAL  Chemical Plant Accident in Northwest Germany Injures Nine People (an accident at a chemical plant injured nine people – a chemical derived from zinc acetate mixed with air and formed a cloud at about 7.30 a.m., injuring workers from companies adjacent to a plant – the cloud has since dispersed and the air around the site is being tested to determine whether there is still a potential health hazard)

LOGGING FATALITY Warrensburg logger killed in accident (a logger, 66, died while cutting logs – he was cutting logs at about 3:40 p.m. when a large log rolled off the top of a pile of 18 or 20 logs and onto him – other loggers working with him found him – the log that rolled onto him was large, more than 2 feet in diameter and it pinned him to the ground)

EXPLOSION  Garbage truck blast injures worker (a pair of explosions were caused by trash on a waste truck – a garbage collector on the truck was thrown about 10 feet from the truck from the impact – investigators with the state bomb squad attributed the first explosion to a compressed oxygen tank – he was treated in the hospital’s emergency room and released)

EXPLOSION @ WWTP  Worker Injured In Solid Waste Authority Plant Explosion (authorities are trying to determine what caused an explosion at the Solid Waste Authority plant that sent one worker to the hospital – the explosion occurred about 5:15 a.m. – one of three men who was working at the time was injured and taken to a Medical Center – he was treated and released – the worker was in a part of the building that shielded him from the brunt of the explosion – the explosion was so powerful that it caused the door on the east side of the building to crumble like an accordion, and the door on the west side was blown off)

EXPLOSION  FBI Agents Investigate Anderson Gas Explosions (the FBI is investigating three explosions that happened at a Gas and Propane business between 2 to 4 a.m. – they believe the explosions were intentional – no one was hurt, and the property damage was minor)

LINEMEN ELECTROCUTED  Worker electrocuted near refinery (a worker, 19, was electrocuted and died while working on overhead power lines about 10 a.m. – he was standing in a cherry-picker bucket on a service truck repairing a line feeding privately owned oil wells behind the plant when he was electrocuted – crew members working with him called 911 – he did not fall from the bucket – he pronounced dead at the scene)

HOTWORK FIRE  Welder’s torch ignited Pearsall tanker fire (preliminary information shows sparks from a welding torch may have ignited vapors around a storage tank, causing an explosion – three employees were injured in the blast – it took them about an hour and a half to put the fire out, and another hour and a half to cool it and make sure it didn’t flare up again – at one point the tank that was burning was starting to turn pretty red on the outside)

CUTTING TORCH EXPLOSION Man burned in accident at Wichita recycling plant (an accident at a recycling facility causes third degree burns to an employee – an employee was using a cutting torch to disassemble the big wheel on an asphalt roller – when pressure was released from the roller, it caused a flash fire – the rollers are normally filled with water but in freezing conditions they are filled with another type of liquid – fire investigators believe the liquid was flammable – the accident caused third degree burns over 28% of the employee’s body)

EXPLOSION Truck Explodes at McKittrick Oil Plant (the driver of a vacuum truck is lucky to be alive after his vehicle exploded at an oil processing plant just after 5 p.m. – the driver of the vacuum truck quickly evacuated and managed to escape safely – the cause of the fire is still under investigation)

EXPLOSION – SPRINKLER SYSTEM SAVES ANOTHER Explosion rocks Franklin factory (a plastics maker was rattled by an explosion and subsequent fire – fire crews were sent to thye business when a water flow alarm came in through the alarm company – the explosion occurred in a large maintenance room and produced heavy smoke and fire – the plant’s sprinkler system was activated and quickly extinguished the blaze – no one was injured – the plant did sustain heavy water damage)

AMMONIA Contractor fined for ammonia leak (a maintenance contractor was fined $40,000 under Ontario’s environmental law for an ammonia gas leak at a city arena that drifted over a public pool, sending three lifeguards to a hospital for observation – an operations supervisor was fined $20,000 in court for the release of a contaminant that caused, or was likely to have caused, an adverse effect – he was also fined $20,000 fine for failing to notify the Environment Ministry of the discharge – he arrived at the Arena to begin planning for the replacement of the arena’s condenser unit, located on the roof – about 30 minutes later, he opened a vent valve on the condenser and began to purge the ammonia gas from the condenser)

AMMONIA 250 evacuated after ammonia leak (local residents were evacuated following an ammonia leak from a food plant – the situation was quickly put under control – the leak from the factory’s gas system was detected soon after 9am, when the factory’s staff and neighbors were removed from the area – the leak was halted shortly after noon, and that no-one was injured)

Construction

CRANE FATALITY  One worker dies at Fort Tyson Ltd. Construction Site Accident (a construction worker, 47, was fatally injured around 2:30 pm – he was overseeing a lifting operation moving construction material to the top floor of a building – although the correct safety procedures, equipment and lifting plans had been discussed and put in place, it is believed that the load slipped from the lifting straps and fell injuring the supervisor – emergency triage procedures were immediately put in place by trained personnel and the ambulance crew responded quickly but were unable to revive him)

DEMOLITION FATALITIES  Youngstown man killed in Cleveland building collapse (a worker, 61, was killed after a building that was being razed in this city collapsed – he and his co-worker,  49, were killed in the accident around 4:30 p.m. – it appears the two men were cutting some metal beams on the second floor of the building when the roof collapsed on top of them – they were independent contractors hired to tear down the building – it was their first day on the demolition job)

BACKHOE ACCIDENT  Worker injured in backhoe accident (the operator of a backhoe was injured when the machine tipped over and landed in a small body of water – two men were working with the backhoe when the accident happened – one man was trapped inside the water-filled cab and his co-worker had to break to glass of the cab to get him out – the operator was taken to a hospital to be treated for hypothermia and cuts to his hands from the glass)

CEILING COLLAPSE FATALITY Man dies following construction accident (a construction worker, 25, has died following demolition work in a downtown building – he was working on the ninth floor when a large chunk of the ceiling collapsed on top of him just before 1 p.m. – he was standing on a ladder taking down a piece of a concrete when the giant 15 x 15 foot section of ceiling collapsed)

PATIO ROOF COLLAPSE FATALITY  Utah roofer killed after being trapped under collapsed wooden patio roof (a residential construction worker, 48, was killed after being crushed and trapped under a patio roof that suddenly collapsed – he was on a ladder underneath the wooden patio roof when it came down – it’s not clear what the roofer was doing or why the structure collapsed – the man was trapped under the debris and could not be easily reached by others on the five-man crew – he died at the scene)

WORKZONE FATALITY  Fatal work zone accident on turnpike near Fremont (a worker, 53, is dead after a fiery accident on a Turnpike around 10:30 a.m. – a semi-truck struck three Turnpike Commission workers – the workers were all outside the two vehicles on scene when the crash occurred – one walked away from the accident with no injuries whatsoever – two were severely hurt, along with the driver of the commercial vehicle – they were taken to nearby hospitals with serious injuries – one of the workers did not survive – he was an assistant foreman with the Turnpike Commission)

PROPANE FIRE  Propane fire at Weston High School injures worker (a propane explosion injured a worker in the face at a High School Science Lab Renovation Project – medics rushed a contractor to a hospital with burns after propane caught fire – he had first- and second-degree burns to his hands and face – injuries were not considered life-threatening – the technician was working on equipment used to heat the construction site)

TRENCHING  Construction worker critical after being pinned in hole (a construction worker, 31, was listed in critical condition after being rescued from a hole filled with wet concrete at 1:10 p.m. – the contractor was preparing to tunnel under some Railway tracks for the installation of a 66-inch sewer pipeline – he was lying on a large board inside a hole pouring concrete when the board began to lift up, trapping the man)

FALL from ROOF  Worker falls from office building roof in Oakwood (a roofer, 23, is being treated after he fell off the roof of an office building – workers apparently got too close to the edge and fell 15 to 20 feet to an awning above an exit door – he was taken to a Hospital and was being treated for head and back injuries)

SCAFFOLDING COLLAPSE FATALITIES  Death toll from scaffolding collapse in UAE rises to three (site engineer and foreman of project arrested as police say accident was caused by a failure to secure structure – the incident, which occurred at a building under construction, is the third this month in which a scaffolding collapsed – two of the eight workers who sustained injuries were operated on – ruling out earlier reports that strong winds were partly to blame, the collapse was the result of a failure to properly secure and support the scaffolding)

FALL  Man badly injured in Ipswich digger accident (a site worker is in a serious condition with severe facial injuries after he was struck by a digger and fell 20ft (6m) down a hole – he had serious facial injuries which were potentially life threatening)

CRANE FATALITY Construction Worker Killed By Crane (a worker, 29, was killed in a warehouse – he was found crushed by a hoisting crane – as the crane was lifting some mixed cement to pour on a beam, the soil beneath the crane collapsed,  and the crane came crashing down, causing multiple fractures, a broken neck and back, and instant death)

CRANE Crane topples at Moses Wheeler Bridge construction site (a crane toppled while being loaded onto a truck at a bridge construction site – the crane was in a parking lot and did not fall into the river, which the bridge spans – no one was injured, but two vehicles were clipped by the boom as it collapsed, and fuel was leaking from the crane – crews were “demobilizing” the crane when the accident occurred – the crane was being held aloft by two jacks as a trailer was backed below it – the crane would then have been lowered onto the bed of the trailer – workers were binding the crane to the trailer with chains when a link broke, starting a chain of events – investigators must still determine why the crane laid over onto its side)

CRANE Crane Falls Onto Concord Building (a tall crane tipped into a home when it slipped on ice while workers tried to trim a tree – the crane crashed through the roof of the home – the crane operator said the vehicle was braced, but as it tried to pick up a particularly heavy piece of the tree, the truck shifted slightly, and it slowly tipped over into the home – the damage was to a barn and garage area, and he believes insurance will cover it – no one was hurt in the accident)

MIscellaneouS

UPDATE on AMPUTATION w/ SNOWBLOWER Probe into auger accident ongoing (a worker, 27, was seriously injured after his arm got stuck in a piece of machinery – he was operating a sidewalk snowplow around 8 a.m – he brought it into a township building after something got caught inside the machine’s auger – somehow his clothing got caught in the auger, which was running at the time, and his arm was pulled inside – it hasn’t been determined how the accident happened, or how the worker’s arm ended up in the machine – he sustained compound fractures to his right arm – he was stuck in the machine for about two hours before he was freed by emergency workers and airlifted to a hospital)  PLEASE NOTE: this is not a laughing matter but does it take a month to determine how a worker got his arm into a snow blower!!  The comment “ it hasn’t been determined how the accident happened, or how the worker’s arm ended up in the machine” is just sad!

FORKLIFT FATALITY  Clermont man killed in accident involving forklift (a part-time employee, 60, at an auction site was killed in an accident involving a forklift – employees were setting up light towers when the accident involving a forklift occurred)