52 incidents & 1 update (2/13/12)

since 2006

since 2007

since 2012

   since 2006

since 2010

2012 Fatality Tracker

Industrial

FATALITY Man killed in industrial accident in Texas City (a worker, 26, was fatally injured in an industrial accident at a facility – he died shortly after he was taken to the hospital at about 10 p.m. – details of what happened were unavailable but it appears he was injured while working on industrial equipment – the equipment is used to package products the company sells)

MINE Mine worker out of hospital (a contractor has been discharged from hospital from injuries he received during an accident at the mine – he fell about 2m from a stationary vehicle around 3.00pm – the man was discharged from hospital the next day)

FORKLIFT FATALITY Worker killed in Memphis warehouse accident (a worker, 23, was killed in an accident in a warehouse a little before 7:30 p.m. – the worker was helping to unload paper rolls from a boxcar when one of them fell, hitting him in the head – he was taken to the hospital, but pronounced dead)

FATALITY Worker dies in Charlottetown industrial accident (a worker, 46, was struck by a Sanitation truck in the outside yard of the business at about 2 p.m. and was pronounced deceased on the scene)

LOGGING FATALITY Forrestry worker killed in accident at work near Callander (a worker, 59, has died while felling trees – he sustained fatal injuries when he was in an accident involving a large vehicle used to remove timber around 4.30 pm  – he died at the scene)

LINE BREAK Worker suffers burns in Dover Chemical accident (worker was taken to a Hospital after suffering chemical burns in a mishap inside the plant – the man was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure and had returned to work his regular shift the next day – three chemicals used for the production of Chlorez spilled on the man who was working on a piece of pipe over his head, and had loosened it – the raw chemicals chloroform, carbon tetrachloride and paraffin came out of the pipe and spilled down his front – when firefighters arrived, other employees had the man in a shower, where he was being decontaminated – he appeared to have some minor chemical burns about his face and head)

ELECTRICAL, LADDER, FALL Worker Shocked In Turbine Accident (an industrial accident involving an offline wind turbine shocked a worker that was cleaning windows on the turbine project when his ladder made contact with a current source – as a result, the worker fell about six feet and needed to be transported to a Medical Facility)

CONFINED SPACE ENGULFMENT OSHA investigating plant after worker rescued from sand silo (a supervisor, 37, became trapped in a 25 foot deep silo of sand at the plant – while the cause of the accident remains unclear – he was on a catwalk before he entered the silo and the concrete-making sands opened up, burying him to the waist at 11:23 a.m. – officials do not know how long he was trapped before he was noticed – emergency crews scaled the catwalk and secured him so he could not slip deeper into the sand, while paramedics made sure his airways stayed clear – workers cleared away the sand around him using two vacuum trucks – once the sand was cleared from his waist, he was strapped into a harness, which allowed the silo to be tapped from below to free his legs – he was then hoisted from the silo, lowered to the ground and transported to hospital where he remains in good condition)

ARC FLASH Civilian worker suffers burn injuries at sub base (a civilian Public Works employee at a Submarine Base suffered burn injuries when an electrical switch malfunctioned around 8:30 a.m. – the employee was working on an electrical switch to transfer one base loop to another and was injured when the switch malfunctioned – the man is a  certified electrician and he was wearing protective equipment – he was taken to a Hospital with non-life threatening injuries)

FATAL FALL into Storm Drain Postal Worker Falls Into Drain, Dies (an employee, 70, died when he tumbled into a storm drain while searching for his cellphone – the accident happened at the Processing and Distribution Center – it appears he drowned after falling into the drain – he had worked for the postal service for more than 25 years)

FORKLIFT Worker Injured In Forklift Accident At Downtown Post Office (an employee was injured by a forklift and was taken to a Hospital – no work on the extent of the person’s injuries or what happened)

FATALITY Worker dies at welding business (a worker, 43, died at a welding business – the preliminary information that I have is that the individual was working, sandblasting the box of a truck that had been elevated – as a result of a condition at the site, it tipped over and unfortunately it pinned him underneath it)

CAUSTIC BURNS Man burnt at Whittaker’s chocolate factory (a worker has suffered caustic soda burns while cleaning out machines at the chocolate factory – a few litres of chemicals spilled on to his shoulder and arm while he was mixing them – the worker was taken to a Hospital, where he was in a stable condition in the emergency department – the man’s injuries were potentially serious – coworkers helped him remove his clothes and got him into a shower until emergency services arrived)

ELECTRICAL LINEMAN BURNED FPL Worker Burned While Doing Maintenance (a worker was burned on the job doing maintenance when he burned both of his arms – he was flown to a hospital conscious and alert, but his condition was not available – it’s not clear how the man burned his arms)

PROPANE EXPLOSION Propane explosion injures 3 painters in South Jordan (the incident occurred at 9:54 a.m. as three men with a private contractor were painting a pipeline – the workers had placed a propane heater just above the concrete vault where they were working to keep warm – investigators did not immediately determine how the propane was ignited, but the resulting blast blew the cover off the vault and badly burned one man on his hands, feet and face – he was first taken to a Regional Medical Center and then flown by helicopter to a Burn Center, where he was in critical condition – a second worker was taken by ambulance to a Medical Center and treated for bumps, cuts and bruises – a third worker was treated at the scene)

HOTWORK EXPLOSION cutting DRUM Worker seriously hurt in scrap metal explosion (a man suffered serious head injuries following a gas explosion at a scrap metal yard – he was using a gas cutter to open a metal container – the metal container had previously contained methanol, also known as wood alcohol, which be used as an alternative fuel for internal combustion and other engines)

FATAL BOILER EXPLOSION Two killed in explosion in TN textile factory (two workers, including a woman, of a textile processing and calendering factory were killed and four other workers sustained serious injuries in an explosion at the factory – cCalendering and processing were being undertaken using steam at the factory when the steam boiler suddenly exploded – a boiler man, 40, who was standing near the boiler was killed on the spot while a folding worker, 38, also died after being hit by the lid of the boiler – four other workers sustained serious injuries and were rushed to hospital)

HOTWORK Fire breaks out at Lorain industrial plant (firefighters spent more than an hour and a half extinguishing a blaze that ignited inside an exhaust system at a manufacturing center – the fire started at 11:53 p.m. when sparks from one of the welding machines set one of the exhaust systems on fire in the 150,000-square-foot production facility – there were no injuries – a dollar estimate of the damage is not yet available, however, the bulk of the damage was contained to the exhaust system)

SPILL Spill from Shell Clyde refinery in Sydney (crews are trying to contain a spill from a refinery – the spill was a petrol-based substance, polygasoline – most of the liquid had been contained but that some had got into a nearby creek – heavy rainfall resulted in the stormwater overflow system being unable to contain all of the rainwater, causing an overflow that contained oil)

REFINERY FIRE Fire at KNOC’s Canadian refinery quickly extinguished (there was a fire at a 115,000 barrel per day refinery – it caused no injuries and was quickly extinguished – the fire had a minimal impact on operations – the cause of the blaze is under investigation)

FIRE Three-Alarm Fire Damages Zinc Plant In Clarksville (fire crews spent nearly seven hours working to put out a three-alarm fire that seriously damaged a chemical plant around 12:30 a.m. – three workers who were inside the plant reported hearing an explosion, and they said they ran out of the plant as the flames erupted – no one was injured – firefighters were forced to let the fire burn for hours because it was too dangerous for them to go inside due to the highly flammable materials inside the plant – by about 3 a.m. and that the entire 40,000-square-foot structure was damaged by either smoke or fire, which was still burning at dawn)

DUST EXPLOSION Crews Respond To Explosion At Springdale Business (an investigation is underway after an explosion just before 4 a.m. – there was a dust explosion in an empty silo, creating a small fire – the silo where the explosion occured was being used to store processed wood fiber, but it had recently been emptied – the roof of the silo was blown off, but it is designed to do so in such an event – specific safety systems installed inside the silo did not activate properly)

EXPLOSION Explosion in Ranbaxy plant (an explosion caused by the bursting of a pipe in the factory – the incident took place around 3 am when a pipe in the distillation plant of the factory was burst due to accumulation of pressure in it – no damage has been caused to life or property due to bursting of pipe)

AMMONIA LEAK from FORKLIFT Ammonia leak spurs evacuation of Fargo business (a business had to be evacuated because of an ammonia leak – a forklift driver accidentally ran into an ammonia pipe and ruptured the line – employees were able to shut the pipe off and evacuated the building – no one was injured)

NITRIC ACID Nitric acid released from Orica plant (three to five litres of nitric acid was detected during a routine inspection – operators detected the nitric acid release from the plant onto the ground – investigations are under way to discover the cause of the leak)

UPDATE on AMMONIA LEAK Feds slap CA utility for San Onofre ammonia leak (an ammonia leak that caused an emergency alert at a nuclear plant in November was caused by employees who failed to recognize degraded equipment and fix it – the Nuclear Regulatory Commission report concluded the problem had “very low safety significance,” and faulted plant operator  for failing to follow its own procedures at the twin-reactor site – the NRC report found workers “failed to adequately identify, evaluate, and correct a problem” in a water purification system, which led to the leak)

Construction

FATAL FALL Contract worker dies in mishap at ESL plant (a contract worker died in an accident at an under-construction title iron pipe plant – this was the second incident in a span of four days, when a contract worker died in accident at the plant – he was doing a painting work at a height of 50 feet, when he accidentally fell and died on the spot)

WORKZONE FATALITY Worker run over during road work Ahmed Shaaban (a worker, 32, succumbed to his injuries following a run-over accident – the victim was hit by a heavy vehicle used in paving the bypass road being built at 1pm)

SKIDSTEER FATALITY Deadly farming accident in Broome County (one worker, 20, is dead after a farming accident – worker was being told how to operate a skid-steer by co-worker, 20 – the operator accidentally pinched his coworker’s body between the hydraulic attachment and the cab of the machine – the victim was pronounced dead at the hospital)

FALL Construction Worker Injured at East 57th Street (a construction worker fell about 15 feet at a work site at about 9:20 a.m. – “He had his harness on but he wasn’t hooked in,” said iron worker, 47, who saw the accident from about 10 feet away – he fell head first and was hanging by his feet, swinging – he dislocated his shoulder – injuries didn’t appear to be life-threatening)

TRENCH FATALITY Worker buried alive in sand collapse in UAQ (a man has died after the sandpit in which he was working collapsed around him at an excavation site – three other men who were working at the site were rescued as sand filled the hole – accident occurred during the drilling process – the four workers were returning to the sandpit after installing electric cables when their cluster collapsed and they got buried in the sand)

CRANE Crane falls at Mich. construction site; 3 hurt (a 250-foot-tall crane collapsed onto a building at a construction site injuring three people – the injuries to a construction worker and two County jail trustees were minor – a garage area where sheriff’s vehicles are kept was damaged – the crane that fell has been used for seven months on a $27 million renovation project)

FORKLIFT Worker at Columbus Hollywood casino construction site injured (a forklift weighing about 1,000 lbs fell on a worker, 53 – the worker suffered only minor cuts and scrapes – he was taken to the hospital for treatment and was expected to survive his injuries – this is the third accident that has happened at three different casino construction sites in Ohio)

MOBILE EQUIPMENT FATALITY Worker Dies While Helping to Build New Subdivision (a construction worker, 45, has died while helping to develop a new subdivision – he was operating machinery on a steep incline when he ran into a tree around 11:15 a.m.)

WORKZONE FATALITY Worker Hit And Killed In Construction Zone (a construction worker, 49, was hit by a car and died while working at a construction site  a little after 3 p.m. – the man was crossing the road carrying a 15-foot pipe that may have obstructed his view)

NAILGUN (X-ray photo at link) Worker survives after shooting nail into his head (a construction worker, 45, has survived after shooting a three inch nail into his head – he said he felt no pain after the accident last week but was convinced he was going to die – doctors were amazed that he was still alive when he was rushed to hospital where an X-ray showed just how far the nail had penetrated into his skull – the nail had missed all the major arteries and was lodged between his brain’s left and right hemispheres – he was working on a site when he asked a colleague to hand him a 16 gauge nail gun – as he grabbed the gun he heard it go off and felt a stinging sensation in the back of his head)

FATAL FALL from ROOF Worker’s Death From Fall Goes To Investigators (worker, 70, fell to his death as employees were working on the roof – he was doing roof repairs when he fell through a panel to the concrete floor below about 8:50 a.m. suffering massive head injuries – he was pronounced dead at the scene)

EXCAVATION FATALITIES Five workers missing in flooded tunnel at Japan refinery (attempts to find five workers missing in an underwater tunnel at a refinery were suspended due to poor visibility that posed a risk to rescue divers – the men, aged 38 to 61, went missing when it flooded with seawater – one worker escaped from the tunnel – the tunnel, 35 meters deep and 820 meters long, is to connect refinery-B to refinery-A and carry pipelines used to transport oil and semi-finished products – cause of the accident is not yet known)

CRANE Work delayed after Port Mann crane collapse (cause of the accident is still under investigation – a 700-tonne crane dropped 90-tonnes of pre-formed concrete into the river – no one was hurt during the accident)

MIscellaneouS

Worker Killed in Palisades Garage Accident (an employee at an apartment complex was killed in an accident involving the building’s automatic parking garage – more information on the circumstances surrounding the death was not immediately available)

FATAL EXPLOSION Investigation continues at Kesmarc (a worker, 29, and one horse were killed and one woman, 33, was seriously injured in an explosion in a hyperbaric chamber – the injured woman was flown by helicopter to a hospital – she was operating the facility’s hyperbaric chamber when it exploded, killing her and the horse inside the room and injuring the other worker – the injured worker was in fair condition)

FORKLIFT FATALITY Worker killed in forklift accident (a worker, 60, died after an accident with a forklift truck at a builders’ merchant – he suffered serious injuries in the accident and was rushed to a Hospital – he died soon after)

UPDATE now an AMPUTATION Runover Boeing Worker Has Legs Amputated (the worker, 30, who became trapped under a 787 Dreamliner being towed a week ago has had both his legs amputated below the knee – he remains in serious condition – the accident occurred when the man was working as part of an escort team walking alongside the 787 – it remained unclear how he had become stuck under the wheel of the aircraft)

FALL into a GRAVE NYC Cemetery Worker Injured After He and Three Others Fall into Open Grave (four workers at a cemetery plunged into a deep, freshly dug grave, leaving one of them injured – the hurt man, 49, had been working in a crew of four when the accident occurred around 12:50pm – he plunged six feet (1.83m) down into the open grave, smashing his leg on the hard casket below – the three other workers then landed on top of him – he was treated for a broken ankle – the others were not injured)