67 incidents & 0 updates (2/25/16)

­­

2016 Fatality Tracker

Industrial

LANDFILL FATALITY City worker dies after accident at landfill (a city maintenance worker, 53, died following an industrial accident at a landfill – officials have not commented publicly on how he was injured)

PIG FATALITY @ GAS WELL Worker Killed in Natural Gas Well Accident in Marion County (worker, 40, was killed after an accident at a natural gas well – company was running a “pig” through a line to remove water or pressure, and the equipment malfunctioned – a piece of the apparatus struck the man in the head, killing him)

CONFINED SPACE FATALITY Worker Dies In Accident At Rocky Farmer’s Co-Op In Washita Co. (worker died after he reportedly slid into some equipment in the grain elevator at about 4:36 p.m. – investigation is ongoing to determine what caused the employee to become trapped in the machinery)

FORKLIFT Worker’s leg crushed by steel beam in Sayreville industrial accident (worker, 33, sustained serious leg injuries from being trapped under a piece of structural steel at a machine shop – the I-beam, which was being transported by a forklift, fell on his leg and he became trapped under the piece of steel -injuries are not considered life threatening)

SANITATION TRUCK FATALITY Man struck, killed by garbage truck in Lebanon County identified (sanitation worker, 51, was struck and killed while picking up trash around 5:48am – he was pronounced dead at the scene)

LOTO FATALITY Workplace accident claims life of Quebec worker (worker, 29, was found unconscious and pinned under a hydraulic device while performing maintenance)

LOTO FATALITY Warrensburg worker killed when struck by machine (maintenance worker died – initial reports indicate the worker was troubleshooting a machine when it engaged and struck him causing fatal injuries)

LOTO FATALITY Maintenance worker killed in elevator accident at UAMS (worker, 32, working on an elevator was killed when the cab came down on him – he was working in an elevator shaft and was under one of the elevators when the cab came down in the normal down cycle and struck him)

STRUCK BY TRUCK FATALITY Worker Killed In Accident With Big Rig At Port Everglades (worker at a Port terminal was killed in an accident with a semi-trailer truck – he was leaving work as the tractor was coming into the yard and was struck shortly after 5 p.m. right near the facility’s guard shack – victim was pronounced dead on the scene)

CONFINED SPACE FATALITY Coroner: Mechanic death in sand mixer at Quarryville foundry was accident (worker, mid 50’s, who was working inside a molding machine at a foundry when it somehow turned on and fatally injured him – he was doing maintenance work inside a sand mixer at 1:21 p.m. – “It activated or turned on while he was within the mixer” – his leg was caught inside a molding machine)

FORKLIFT Worker sustains serious injuries in Scarborough industrial accident (worker, 25, suffered serious injuries when he was struck by a lift truck at around 8 a.m. – victim was conscious and breathing when responders arrived on scene)

FORKLIFT FATALITY One dies from injuries sustained during forklift accident (one person has died following a forklift accident at a business – worker had been on a forklift when it tipped over on top of him while going up a ramp – other workers at the business used another forklift to help lift the machinery off of him – he died from his injuries)

Worker pinned by freight mishap at Whitehorse trucking yard (load weighing about 550 kilograms shifted as it was being moved, trapping an employee in the trailer of a freight truck – the injured woman was alert during the rescue)

FORKLIFT Man hurt in Lowell forklift accident (worker, 52, suffered a “traumatic head injury” as he helped unload several large panels of glass from a flatbed truck – victim was standing nearby when a panel apparently fell from a forklift vehicle – worker was alerted to the problem but could not get out of the way in time and was struck on the head by a frame encasing the glass)

Orem Man Crushed in West Jordan Industrial Accident Identified (worker, 37, died after a large sheet of steel fell on him – employee was working on about a 40-foot in length structure about 10 feet wide – he was cutting it, and at some point he cut through enough that it fell on him – he was underneath it, and it landed on his head and neck area and he did succumb to those injuries – the section of steel weighed several thousand pounds)

BURNS New Smyrna worker burned after chemical ‘spontaneously erupted’ (employee of a glass company was burned when he used denatured alcohol before cutting glass – the alcohol “spontaneously erupted” as the employee was getting ready to cut glass – he sustained second-degree burns to a quarter of his body and was taken to a Medical Center by another worker – state’s Fire Marshal’s Office is investigation the incident)

REFINERY FIRE Refinery investigates fire which burned worker (fire was on a decommissioned platformer unit – worker was injured in a fire while doing demolition work – he was burned on the arm by a fire about 4.30pm – fire was quickly contained and extinguished by a specialist emergency services team based on site)

FIRE Two injured in Frio County oil explosion (explosion at a gas plant shut down roads and forced an evacuation in the area around 3:30 p.m. – a team was able to eventually shut off a valve to stop the fire from continually burning – two employees were injured – one worker was unloading a tanker when he was caught in the blaze – deputies believe oil was in his rig and quickly caught fire – worker was airlifted to a hospital)

FATAL COMPRESSED GAS CYLINDER EXPLOSION Worker killed, 2 hurt in oxygen cylinder blast (one person was killed while two others were seriously injured after an oxygen cylinder exploded at a refilling unit – incident took place at a refilling plant – he was refilling a cylinder when it exploded)

FATAL AIR COMPRESSOR EXPLOSION Factory worker killed in compressor unit blast (worker, 28, died and his colleague was injured when an air compressor exploded at a manufacturing unit – they were working near a dryer, which was connected to the compressor unit that exploded – both suffered severe burn injuries)

GUARDING/LOTO FATALITY Worker killed at Tonawanda Coke near Buffalo, NY (worker, 60, was killed while working on or near a bucket elevator that was part of a coal conveyor – worker was a 10-year veteran at the plant)

FATAL EXPLOSION Investigators back at scene of fatal Rockmart mill explosion (one worker died and five others injured  – worker, 25, was killed in the explosion – one injured person was flown to a Hospital in critical condition – four others were taken to hospitals – the mill processes chicken feed for farms in the region – firefighters uncovered a gas leak, but investigators do not know whether it caused the blast or resulted from it – explosion caused the partial collapse of a low building next to the plant’s 100-foot tall storage and processing facility – a much smaller dust explosion took place at the plant in recent years in a different building)

ELECTROCUTION from DAMAGED CORD Furniture Plant Worker Electrocuted from Faulty Equipment (victim, 26, was electrocuted while cleaning wood dust and debris from a gang rip saw – OSHA found the flexible power cord to the saw had been repeatedly damaged by a motorized lift table used in conjunction with the 480 volt saw – the cord had seven points of damage, including two complete breaks that were improperly spliced and covered with electrical tape – a grounding wire inside the saw’s power box also was found to be covered in insulation where it attached to the grounding lug, rendering it ineffective – additionally, two of the three fuses inside the saw’s main electrical panel had tripped, while the surge of electricity welded the third fuse open, allowing electricity to continue flowing through the machine – co-workers found him slumped over his station after they noticed supplies had stopped coming down the assembly line – when they touched the victim, they were shocked)

HOTWORK One injured in fire at Waste Management plant in Tampa (one person was injured in a fire – the fire was caused after sparks from workers welding at the site ignited the pile of recycling)

REFINERY FIRE Fire Breaks Out At Heartland Petroleum In East Columbus (equipment malfunction caused a fire at an oil refinery – refinery was evacuated and an equipment malfunction sparked the flames – the oil was hot and it was sensitive to pressure, and that could cause a fire – no one was injured and employees made it out safely)

REFINERY FIRE Shell says responded to fire at Martinez, Calif., refinery on Friday (refinery’s fire department responded to a duct fire inside the catalyst plant – when fire personnel arrived, employees had already put out the fire – no one was injured – incident occurred around 2:20 p.m.)

FATALITY Employee death at 3M plant investigated as workplace accident (worker, 48, died as the result of some type of electrical injury – he died at a Hospital shortly before 4 p.m. the day of the accident – firefighter-paramedics found him being tended to by fellow employees who were performing CPR)

AMMONIA Vale Brazil fertilizer plant suffers ammonia leak, sickening nine (nine workers at a fertilizer plant were sickened by an ammonia leak – while the workers were overcome by the fumes and taken to hospital, all have been released and are in good health – leak was from an ammonia system control valve)

AMMONIA UPDATE: No evacuation after ammonia leak at Boise Fed Ex Freight (an ammonia link at a Freight service center took hours to resolve while officials waited for a part to fix the leaking cylinder – there were no injuries – the leaking ammonia cylinder was part of a shipment in a trailer and the trailer was pulled away from the dock and moved to a more isolated location)

AMMONIA 100 staff evacuated at PPG paint and coatings company in Birstall following ammonia leak (there has been a mechanical failure somewhere in the plant – paint manufacturing facility was evacuated as a precaution after an alarm in the facility was activated)

CHLORINE Akron business evacuated for chlorine tank leak (business was evacuated due to a chlorine tank leak about 11 a.m. – no injuries were reported – cause of the leak remains under investigation)

FORKLIFT FATALITY Illinois man killed in forklift accident (a forklift mechanic, 36, died when a forklift slid backward off a truck and struck him)

FIRE EXTINGUISHER EXPLOSION Two men severely injured in Town of Wallkill explosion (two workers, 23 and 35, were seriously hurt when a fire extinguisher tank exploded at a fire equipment supply business around 9:30 a.m. – worker was filling a fire extinguisher tank with air in a rear room of the building when the tank ruptured for an as yet unknown reason – he suffered severe injuries to both of his legs and the co-worker, who was standing nearby, suffered a severe injury to his right leg)

Construction

CRANE FATALITIES 2 workers die in Whippany construction accident (two workers were killed when a strap holding a 10,000-pound generator to a crane snapped, dropping the generator onto the construction workers below around 11 a.m.)

WORKZONE FATALITY I-4 Ultimate project on hold after worker killed in Maitland (construction worker, 34, was killed after being run over by a fellow worker, 49, at a construction site – worker was driving a dump truck filled with dirt when he backed up over his coworker at about 11:30 a.m. on an eastbound shoulder of Interstate 4 – he was pronounced dead at the scene – he had only been with the company for a month)

SCAFFOLDING Worker injured during industrial accident in Portsmouth (worker was reportedly injured at a construction job site – he was 25 feet in the air on a scaffolding when he was hit by construction material)

FALL from SCAFFOLDING Worker injured in construction accident at Sun Devil Stadium (construction worker was taken to the hospital after he fell from scaffolding – he fell about 25-30 feet to the ground – he was treated at the scene and transported to a trauma center with serious injuries)

TRENCH FATALITY ONE DEAD AFTER A TRENCH CAVED IN ON CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN CYPRESS (worker, 19, is dead after a trench caved in on construction workers – he was buried alive during the accident)

WALL COLLAPSE Construction worker severely injured after wall falls at courthouse (portion of the courthouse addition’s south wall fell on a construction worker on the first level of the addition to the courthouse shortly after 1 p.m. – stairs were being installed near the south wall at the time of the accident – he suffered significant head trauma, a broken wrist and a severe leg injury cause by a puncture with a piece of rebar)

TRENCH FATALITY Worker killed after sewer-line trench collapses in Coquitlam (a construction worker trapped in a trench was pronounced dead at the scene – fire department’s specialized trench-rescue team used hand tools to extricate the man within 20 minutes – Paramedics then attempted CPR, and pronounced the man dead – victim was initially buried up to his neck when the trench collapsed)

WORKZONE FATALITY Two Workers Struck by Car, Driver and One Worker Killed Near Robbins (two men died after a car struck a wood chipper where two men were working – worker, 50, died at the scene and the other worker was not injured – both workers were in the process of putting signs to designate it as a work zone when the car struck the chipper – the two men were working for a company hired by Department of Transportation to cut down trees)

SKID STEER Worker Injured At Bridgehampton Construction Site Last Week (worker, 52, was run over by construction equipment and was flown by medevac helicopter to a Hospital – he suffered a “serious leg injury” and was in fair condition – incident occurred at about 11:35 a.m. when the driver of a skid steerdid not see him and ran him over)

WORKZONE FATALITY Paris construction worker killed, driver arrested (one construction worker, 21, is dead, and another man is fighting for his life after an intoxicated driver, 26, ran into them on the side of the road while they were working around 10:30 a.m. – construction site was marked, but that didn’t keep the drunk driver from driving off the side of the road, taking the life of a man who just doing his job – driver carried the deceased on the hood of his car for about a block after hitting him – the 2008 Toyota Corolla eventually came to a stop after striking a telephone poll)

WORKZONE FATALITY Road worker killed, another injured after truck hits them on highway (worker was killed when he was hit by a truck around 5 p.m. – a northbound truck was exiting U.S. 131 when it ran into a work crew in the area – workers were contractors placing signs on the sides of the highway – one worker died on the scene – another man was transported to a hospital and was later airlifted to a different hospital – driver of the truck had minor injuries and refused medical treatment and was arrested for reckless driving causing death)

STRUCK BY TRUCK FATALITY Construction worker crushed to death by own van in Central Park (construction worker, 56, was killed when he was crushed by his own van – he was working when a metal fence got stuck under his white Ford van at about 6:30 a.m. as he drove down a narrow path – he opened his door and attempted to step on the fence with one foot while applying pressure to the gas with the van in reverse, hoping to free the fence and keep moving – but he fell under the vehicle, where he was crushed by one of its front tires – van was eventually stopped by a rock, but he was left pinned underneath)

FALL from SCAFFOLDING Worker Injured After Falling Nearly 60 Feet From Hotel Construction Site (worker, 36, fell 56 feet from a hotel construction site after he tripped over scaffolding – he suffered broken bones and head trauma)

FALL Construction worker in West Austin falls 4 stories (a construction worker, in his 30s, fell from the fourth floor of a hotel just after 1 p.m. and was rushed to the hospital – he fell 30 to 40 feet – he had potentially life threatening injuries)

CRANE Construction worker injured at Pembroke Pines site (construction worker was injured after a large pipe fell off a crane and landed on him – victim was transported to a Hospital)

FATAL FALL Teenage construction worker dies after Pieta accident (worker, 19, died after falling from three-story height at a construction site around 4.30pm – he died in hospital while receiving treatment)

AERIAL LIFT FATALITY Worker killed at new Royal Adelaide Hospital construction site (worker was crushed in an accident involving a scissor lift just after 3:00pm – he suffered fatal head injuries)

CRANE FATALITY Worker’s leg amputated after crane accident (worker, 37, injured by debris when a floor crane toppled from the 12th floor of the building he was working on has had his leg amputated – he was on the ground floor at the time – his colleague, 25, operating the machine was dragged along with it and pronounced dead at the site)

FATAL FALL BMW contract worker dies from injuries after fall (Coroner and OSHA are investigating after a worker, 55, died due to injuries sustained in a fall – he was working as a contractor)

Trapped construction worker seriously hurt at BBC Television Centre building site (firefighters freed a man trapped under a waste refuge lorry – construction worker has suffered serious injuries just after 8.15am)

FATAL FALL Construction worker dies after falling at Carlton worksite, in Melbourne’s inner north (worker died after falling from a temporary work platform on a construction site just before 8:30am – he fell almost 20 metres down an open shaft – he was treated at the scene but could not be revived – he was standing on the platform, which only partially covered an elevator shaft at the site, when he fell)

FALL from ROOF Worker falls four storeys off roof in Selkirk (construction worker, 21, was taken to hospital with serious injuries after falling off a roof – he fell four stories and landed between a pile of concrete and some tin – he was able to walk away after the accident, but paramedics took him to hospital to be checked out – he was shingling the roof when he fell around 10:30 a.m.)

WORKZONE City worker airlifted to Toronto after being struck by SUV (worker was hit by an SUV around 10:30 a.m. as a crew was conducting road maintenance – the area where the crew was working was fully marked with two workers flagging at each end – at the time of the accident the worker was acting as a flag person to control traffic while workers were repairing a manhole – vehicle turned the corner, struck the worker and wound up on the side of the road on a snowbank)

AERIAL LIFT FATALITY Worker crushed in malfunctioning sky lift at MRT work site (construction worker, 25, was crushed to death in a sky lift when he was caught in the cage of the sky lift when it veered out of control and crashed into the side of the MRT station)

Construction workers exposed to chemical fumes at Hotel Riu site in Midtown (three construction workers were exposed to chemical fumes, with one worker in critical condition – workers were working when they fell ill around 2 p.m. – the other two were in stable condition – no word on cause)

HOTWORK Sparks from welding torch start fire at building construction site (firefighting crews responded to a structure fire at the construction site – several people working at the site were left stranded on the roof – eyewitness of the fire say that as crews worked on the building some stray sparks from a welder caught some foam insulation on fire – fire has been put out and the workers were evacuated from the roof)

DEMO FATALITIES Didcot power station: Four feared dead and five injured after building collapse  (one person dead, five injured and three missing at power station after turbine hall collapses – parts of site were being prepared for demolition later this year – witnesses report hearing huge explosion and buildings shaking)

FORKLIFT Man seriously injured in forklift accident at manufacturing plant (worker, 57, was seriously injured in a forklift accident at a manufacturing plant – he was pinned against a piece of machinery when the forks from the forklift came down across his back just before 2 p.m. – his chest was crushed and he was taken to a Hospital)

Miscellaneous

TRACTOR FATALITY Dairy worker killed in industrial accident (dairy worker, 30, died as he was dismounting a tractor when he got caught in the vehicle’s equipment – he suffered traumatic injuries to his torso and legs, and died at the scene around 5:40 p.m. – the tractor was pulling another piece of farming equipment at the time)

STRUCK BY TRUCK FATALITY Worker Killed At Bernie & Phyl’s Norton Headquarters (worker, 63, was killed in the parking lot when was struck by a delivery truck)

LOTO/GUARDING FATALITY Worker killed on the University of Montreal’s campus (worker, 28, was killed while he was working on an escalator at a university building when one of his arms got caught in a piece of machinery – he was rushed to the hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead a short time later)

WORKZONE IDOT worker and driver struck near I-64 in Washington Park (worker, 52, and a stranded motorist have been rushed to the hospital after being hit by a passing vehicle – accident happened around 2pm – DOT worker was responding to a call to assist a stranded motorist whose car was in a ditch – both the IDOT worker and the motorist were standing outside the the disabled vehicle)

ELECTRICAL CPR started immediately after worker shocked at Drake University (construction worker, 27, reportedly suffered an electrical shock about 10:06 a.m. – incident started when an electrician and contractor were preparing to do work involving two green transformer boxes – one of the boxes was open as the electrician was showing the contractor where to drill holes and avoid hitting the switches and pipes – the contractor leaned into the box to get a closer look and got shocked – electrician started CPR immediately after finding the contractors heart had stopped – man was conscious again by the time rescue crews and police arrived – contractor suffered burns to his hands and head and was taken to a metro hospital)

CHEMICAL REACTION EXPLOSION Man’s hand severely injured in chemical blast in Weston (worker’s hand was severely injured during a chemical explosion about 9:40 a.m. in the bathroom of a community’s pool house – the explosive chemical reaction occurred when the man mixed a rust inhibitor that contained hydrofluoric acid with pool chlorine in a pump sprayer that was being pressurized – his left hand was injured and he was airlifted to a Medical Center in serious condition)

CO POISONING N. MI farm death blamed on pressure washer fumes (fumes from a pressure washer likely caused the accidental death of a 17-year-old girl at farm – she died of asphyxiation from exhaust fumes at the farm where she worked – medical examiner determined she died of asphyxiation from inhaling “the products of an internal combustion engine, including carbon monoxide” – it appears the fumes came from a pressure washer running near where she was found)