39 Incidents & 2 Updates (6/20/11)

2011 Fatality Tracker 

Industrial

FATALITY Man who died after accident is named (a worker, 55, died in a hospital after becoming trapped under steel at a port – he was found at the Port with serious injuries at around 8.45am – he was airlifted to a Hospital where he died from his injuries)

BACK-UP BOILER EXPLOSION Explosion at Sumitomo Kashima Steelworks injures one worker (a boiler exploded at a steel factory injuring one worker at 1:46 PM – cause of the accident is being investigated – the boiler is not used often and the explosion won’t affect operations at the plant)

MINE FATALITY Mine accident victim identified, Man died after vehicle flipped (worker, 35, died underground at the operation after the vehicle he was driving flipped, causing fatal injuries – he had been to the provincial mine rescue competition several times and even made it to the world mine rescue competition in Nevada a couple of years ago – he had worked at the site for seven years – details about the incident are not being released as the investigation remains underway)

CONFINED SPACE FATALITY – FLASH FLOOD IN STORM DRAIN Worker killed in storm drain deluge (a drainage worker, 61, died after being swept away by a torrent of water during a rainstorm – he was doing an inspection inside a storm water drain with six fellow workers – workers reported to the police when they discovered him missing – divers found his body in another drain more than 20 meters away – he was declared dead at a Hospital – he had been employed by a contractor working for the Drainage Services Department for eight years – officials suspected the accident was caused by the sudden heavy rainfall and the wide drain where there was not enough time for the victim to grab the nearby handrail)

LOTO/GUARDING Machine Part Falls on Connecticut Post Press Worker (a worker, 63, at a press plant is in critical condition after an accident involving a piece of machinery – he was injured when part of the platemaking machine he was working on came down on him and trapped him – he was alert when taken to the hospital – other employees at the plant said he may have suffered rib injuries in the incident, which took place at about 11:30 p.m. – he was in critical condition)

Sheffield Utility Worker Injured (a utility worker was injured around 1:15 pm at as wastewater plant – reports indicate the worker suffered an arm amputation – officials with the plant are remaining tight-lipped and are not commenting on the severity of the accident, or the current condition of the worker)

COMPRESSED GAS CYLINDER (Oxygen) FAILS during filling 2 workers injured in accident at plant (two plant workers were taken to the hospital and will remain there overnight after being injured on the job – it happened just before 7 a.m. – the workers were hurt when an oxygen gas cylinder failed during the filling process – the plant was closed immediately and will remain closed until an internal investigation is complete – there were no other injuries reported)

Death Toll Climbs to 7 After Equipment Collapse at South China Plant (seven people were confirmed dead and two injured after equipment collapse at a power plant – a steel structure collapsed while 11 workers were dismantling a scrap generator – the accident killed three people at the scene and two others died later in the hospital – rescuers later retrieved the bodies of two workers who were reported missing in the accident, bringing the death toll to 7 – the two injured workers remain hospitalized but are in stable condition – one suffered a slight cerebral concussion and the other underwent surgery to repair a right-leg fracture – cause of the accident is being investigated)

FATAL EXPLOSION – Water Tank Catastrophically fails Redding Man Dies After Plant Explosion (a sewage plant operator was severely injured after a 45 hundred gallon tank exploded at the treatment plant – it was a pressurized water tank – since it is not known what exactly caused the explosion, several agencies plan to conduct thorough investigations of the incident)

RADIATION 4 Workers Exposed to Strong Gamma Radiation in Southern Bulgaria (four workers have been exposed to strong gamma radiation – company specializes in supplying and recharging gamma-ray therapeutic equipment for the treatment of cancer patients – accident happened during a recharging of a cobalt-60 gamma-radiation facility – due to an employee error, an already charged facility, instead of an empty one, was taken out of the piece of equipment, exposing the workers to radiation for about 5 minutes – the accident has been preliminarily ranked at level 3 out of 7 on the INES scale (International Nuclear and Radiation Events Scale)

ELECTRICAL Worker suffers 11,000 volt shock in West Harptree (an electricity company worker, in his 40s, has suffered an 11,000 volt shock while working on cables – the electric shock passed through his left hand and came out through his lower abdomen – he was airlifted to a Hospital and is recovering with burns to his hand)

DIESEL TANK EXPLOSION Worker airlifted to burn unit ( a worker, 35, was working on rehabilitating a diesel fuel tank when an explosion happened just before 11:30 a.m. – he suffered burns to his upper body and was first taken to a Hospital, then airlifted to a burn unit)

UPDATE on FATAL EXPLOSION Flammable tank not labelled, blast inquest told (an inquest into a fatal explosion at a winery has heard a worker did not label a tank containing a flammable liquid – the blast at the winery in January 2008 killed a wine maker and a welder – a senior cellar hand at the winery told the hearing he remembers pumping ethanol into one of the vats, but he did not put a sign on the tank indicating it contained a flammable substance – it is believed the vat of ethanol exploded when the welder started welding, unaware of its contents)

FATAL EXPLOSION 2 killed in blast at factory in Ankleshwar, Gujarat (two workers were killed and six others injured in an explosion at a chemical factory – the blast, which triggered a fire, was apparently caused due to overheating of the reactor – fire tenders fought for more than two hours to control the flames – one worker died during treatment at a nearby hospital, while the charred body of another worker was retrieved yesterday)

REFINERY FIRE Major fire erupts at Croatia’s main oil refinery; 4 firefighters hospitalized (a major fire has erupted at an oil refinery, causing injuries to four firefighters – the fire hit one of the storage tankers in the 60,000 barrel-a-day refinery – four firefighters were hospitalized, two with serious inhalation problems – cause was not immediately clear)

SOLVENT FIRE Three hurt fighting St. Louis chemical fire (a chemical plant fire and explosion injured three firefighters and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people – a portion of Interstate 44 was temporarily shut down because of the fire – the injuries to the firefighters weren’t life-threatening – the explosion occurred while they were operating hand lines inside the facility and they were tossed around a little but it’s not thought to be serious – no employees at the plant were injured – the plant produces solvents – cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known)

AMMONIA Ammonia leak in Bluff (emergency services spent almost three hours working to control a gas leak – whether or not the gas may have seeped into the nearby ocean is still being assessed – the tank responsible for the leak usually contained about 1.5 tonnes of ammonia but just a third of it remained when it was inspected by emergency services – buildings in the immediate area were evacuated and emergency services worked for about two and a half hours to isolate the leak and begin the process of cleaning it up – no one was injured in the leak)

FORKLIFT Man injured in forklift accident at Manitowoc Tool & Machining (a worker, 45, was injured when a forklift ran over his foot – the accident occurred on the loading dock – according to a company spokesman, the man was not run over by a forklift, but backed into by a forklift and fell – he had a sore ankle and was sent to the hospital to be checked)

Construction

WORKZONE FATALITY Caltrans stands down after worker killed in San Diego (Caltrans pulled every maintenance worker from across the state off the road for an emergency safety refresher course after the third agency worker was killed in an accident less than a month – worker, 52, was picking up trash on the 15 Freeway connector about 9 a.m. when he was struck by a car and killed – two other workers have died since early May)

WORKZONE FATALITY TDOT Worker Killed in Accident (a TDOT worker was killed along I-55 – the worker was with a TDOT Help truck when the accident occurred near the West Memphis I-55 weigh station – the worker was hit while the Help Truck was pulled over assisting a stalled vehicle – cause of the accident is under investigation)

TRACKHOE FATALITY Worker dies in construction accident in Sackets Harbor (a worker, 47, was killed when he was pinned in an excavator by an uprooted tree – he was pronounced dead at a Medical Center – a 40-foot tall tree followed the arm of the excavator and slid down onto the cab shortly before 11:20 a.m. – the machine had been cutting and pulling trees – worker was pinned inside the cab for seven to 10 minutes before emergency responders cut off the roof with a hydraulic tool – victim was unconscious and unresponsive when rescuers reached him)

FATALITY Worker killed at Wanasing Beach (a worker, 23, is dead after a workplace accident – he was working at a construction site around 2:45 p.m. when a structure shifted and pinned him – he was taken to hospital but died)

ELECTRICAL Construction worker suffers electrical burns at Elevate Life Church building site (a construction worker, 45, suffered second and third-degree electrical burns after an accident at the building site – he was hurt while working on an electrical panel – he was found on the second floor of the construction site and transported to a Hospital by CareFlite)

CRANE & ELECTRICAL Man in critical condition after construction site accident (worker, in his mid 30s, was rushed to a medical Centre with life threatening injuries following an accident at a midtown construction site – the injured man was reportedly operating a crane when it touched an overhead wire and caused an explosion – one of the workers electrocuted – he suffered some extensive burns – the worker was listed in critical condition in hospital)

UPDATE on FATAL TRENCH FATALITY New Zealand worker killed in water pipe blast (a worker, 48, was killed while inspecting work on a water pipe – six other workers were injured, one seriously – the underground explosion occurred soon after 8 a.m., about 30 minutes into an inspection tour of a 28-kilometre pipeline being constructed – the worker was a network maintenance planner and a mother of two, died at the scene – it is believed that sparks from a grinder ignited methane gas in the water pipeline, setting off the blast – nearby residents told TV3 News they had been complaining of the smell of gas in the area for “many years”, but the city council had failed to act)

MANLIFT & POWERLINES Rescued worker recovering after cherry picker knocks out power lines (a construction contractor using a hydraulic lift was rescued by firefighters after his cherry-picker contacted overhead power lines, disabling the lift mechanism and leaving him stranded about 20 feet off the ground for nearly 40 minutes – he did not appear to be badly hurt – he was removing gutters as part of a remodeling project at a retirement community – he apparently was maneuvering the lift around some trees when it came into contact with the power lines, sending a powerful jolt of electricity through the metal frame of the machine – the current grounded through the rim of the cherry picker’s wheel, gouging a chunk out of the rim, charring the rubber tire and starting a small fire in the mechanism – a second construction worker on the ground used a fire extinguisher to douse the flames before firefighters arrived)

WORKZONE FATALITY INDOT worker killed on the job in Jasper (a DOT worker, 54, was killed in a traffic accident – he was on crack-sealing detail – also on the job was worker, 50, who was operating a dump truck which was dropping sand onto the hot sealant – driver was backing the dump truck, had checked his rear-view mirrors and seen nobody behind him, and then struck his co-worker – he was transported to a Hospital where he was pronounced dead)

FALL Construction Worker Suffers Head Injury in Fall (worker, 60, fell six feet and hit his head on concrete – he suffered a “serious” head injury – he fell off a six-foot platform and landed head first on some concrete – he was conscious when he was transported to a Hospital for treatment)

FALL from LADDER Worker falls in manhole at U.S. 395 extension (a worker, 50, doing inspections of pipes on the new U.S. 395 extension fell to the bottom of a 15-foot manhole and had to be rescued – he spent about 1 hour and 40 minutes at the bottom of the hole until rescue crews could bring him to the surface – he was going down a manhole and just missed a rung on a ladder – he broke his pelvis and an arm)

FATAL FALL from SCAFFOLDING Worker who died after falling 25ft from scaffolding on two-storey house named (worker, 67, died after falling 25ft from scaffolding – he died at the scene)

CRANE into POWERLINES Toronto crane operator burned after contact with power lines released from hospital (Ministry of Labour is investigating a crane accident in which a crane operator was rushed to hospital with burns after his boom connected with overhead power lines – preliminary reports suggest the operator was running a mobile crane in the area about 9:20 a.m. when it hit the electrical wires – he was taken to a nearby Hospital with first- and second-degree burns to his arms and minor burns to his face- he was treated and released)

MIscellaneous

DIESEL FUEL FLASH FIRE Two men burned in farm accident (two men were burned in a farm accident – one of them has serious burns – a farm tractor was being refueled when static electricity caused an explosion – one worker sustained serious burns and the other was not injured as severely as he tried to put out the flames on the first worker – air ambulance transported the worker with more serious burns to a medical center for treatment – the other worker was driven to a Hospital – it’s rare for diesel to ignite by static electricity) NOTE:  I wrote a newsletter article years ago about the lack of respect for diesel fuel.  I will find it and post it this week.  In the article I talk about static being a source of ignition for diesel fuel)

GARAGE FATALITY S. Ind. worker crushed when car rolls off lift (a man working in a garage was crushed when a car rolled off a lift about 4 p.m. – he was pronounced dead at the scene)

Carnival ride accident injures three (a light bar on the ride was not properly secured and fell while the ride was in motion – the bar then swung back and forth over the ride – children on the ride screaming and ducking to avoid the bar – the ride was stopped and two employees rushed into the ride to try to stop the malfunctioning piece from hitting children – one child received cuts and bruises, one of the workers also received minor cuts, and one worker was transported for treatment of a gash on his arm)

CARBON MONOXIDE Workers Overcome by Carbon Monoxide Fumes (two men were found unconscious in the underground parking garage – they were using a pressure washer inside an unventilated part of the garage when they were overcome by the fumes – the workers were taken to a local hospital with serious and potentially life-threatening injuries – no other injuries were reported)

HOTWORK FIRE Firefighters Put Out Blaze at Port of Brownsville (workers were welding on the shrimp boat – a spark ignited the blaze shortly before 2 p.m. – it burned for more than an hour – a few weeks ago, firefighters were called out for a fire on the same boat)