37 Incidents & 3 Updates (7/12/11)

2011 Fatality Tracker 

Industrial

MINE FATALITY Harmony shuts Tshepong after fatal accident (the third largest gold miner closed a mine after a fall-of-ground incident left one worker dead and others injured – the mine would be closed until all investigations into the early morning accident had been completed – the accident comes less than a week after a worker died in a locomotive accident at a mine)

FLAMMABLE LIQUID UNLOADING EXPLOSION Tanker blast rocks Blakesburg; town evacuated (the driver of the tanker truck was critically injured and was airlifted to a Hospital – the tanker driver was offloading his compartments of diesel fuel and gasoline when the explosion occured –  on the southern side of the driver’s location were two huge, round anhydrous ammonia tanks and on the northern side was one that contained nitrogen)

EXPLOSION Explosion damage at door manufacturer’s plant likely to exceed $1M (an explosion at a door manufacturer scattered debris a half-mile away, but the timing of the incident prevented any serious injuries – a large pressurized vessel exploded about 3:20 a.m. and tossed an employee against a wall – the worker wasn’t seriously injured)

UPDATE on BOILER EXPLOSION $1.6 milliion settlement in boiler explosion (a former maintenance worker, 56, at a Medical Center who was seriously injured when a manhole cover blew off a boiler and struck him in the head in 2009 has reached a $1.6 million settlement with the company that was servicing the boiler and its insurance companies – he was following directions from a technician employed by the service company when the boiler exploded – he suffered a traumatic brain injury as well as extreme blood loss, numerous broken bones in his face, respiratory failure, eye damage, hearing loss and some facial nerve damage – he was hospitalized for more than a month – he recovered enough to return to work within about six months)

UPDATE on FORKLIFT ACCIDENT Sanitation Worker Gets $5,250,000 After Forklift Runs Over Ankle (in January 2008, a sanitation worker was helping to install a snow plow when a co-worker accidentally ran over his ankle – he sustained a severe ankle injury and underwent two surgeries -after hiring an attorney he obtained his 3/4 tax free disability pension and successfully settled his lawsuit against the City for $5,250,000 – he also developed post-operative complications including RSD (reflex sympathetic dystrophy) and foot drop which requires the use of a brace – he never returned to work)

(a worker was ejected from his bucket, falling nearly 20 feet – crews were working to lift a tree, rigging lines from a larger tree to bring down the smaller one – the weight from the first, brought down the second, striking one of the booms on a power truck and throwing the worker from the bucket – video @ link)

UPDATE Malfunction kills Lawrenceville factory worker (an assembly-line worker was killed when a piece of machinery smashed into his torso – maintenance workers received a late-night call indicating a piece of machinery was malfunctioning – when the workers arrived, they found 51-year-old employee suffering from a massive torso wound – he died at the scene – the cause of death was blunt force trauma)

MINE Worker injured at FMG port (a man has suffered serious injuries in a workplace accident at a port – the second mine site mishap this week – the contractor had been conducting maintenance work when his legs were crushed at 1pm – he remains in intensive care – not clear how the accident happened)

CONVEYOR AMPUTATION Accident at bentonite plant severs worker’s hand (a worker at a bentonite plant is recovering at a hospital after severing his hand while operating a conveyor at about 9 p.m. – he was troubleshooting a screw conveyor that transfers waste from one location to another when the accident happened)

MINE FATALITY Miner Suffers Fatal Injuries at Kentucky Coal Mine (a miner, 26, suffered fatal injuries at the underground coal mine – a motorman at the mine, was hauling supplies with a rail-mounted locomotive at the time of the accident, which was estimated to have occurred at approximately 7:00 p.m. – the preliminary review indicates that he was fatally injured while traveling beneath an overcast beam on the roof of the mine – he was unresponsive when found and co-workers immediately administered CPR at the scene, subsequently removing the victim to a waiting ambulance)

MINE RESCUERS FATALITIES Three die in China coal mine rescue (three rescuers died as they tried to help workers trapped in a colliery, as 21 people remained stuck in another mine in the same region – the three rescue workers were trying to reach miners trapped in a colliery after a fire broke out underground – one of the rescuers collapsed underground due to the extreme heat, then two other relief workers tried to save him but they too fell and lost consciousness – other rescuers came up behind them and carried them to the surface, but the three had died)

HOTWORK FIRE Fire At Chicken Processing Plant (some workers were welding in the back of the plant when sparks caught some insulation on fire – firefighters responded and helped the worker to extinguish the fire – there was minimal damage done to the building and no one was injured in the blaze)

HOTWORK FIRE Fire Chief: Heat Made Fire Spread At Recycling Plant (the heat turned a small trash fire into a massive blaze at a recycling plant – crews were using a torch to cut through steel when a spark set a pile of debris on fire, sending flames and smoke shooting up in the air – a pile of scrap that was about 25 feet tall caught fire at the recycling plant – workers at the recycling plant helped them battle the flames by using a crane with a claw that helped separate the piles of debris)

FIRE Fire at S China oil refinery, no casualties (fire broke out at an oil refinery – no casualties were caused – the fire was reported at 4:10 am at an oil refinery and was put out in three hours – flames soared over 100 meters high after oil leaked from an equipment at the Refinery)

CHLORINE Chlorine gas sickens hundreds in Baghdad’s Sadr City (gas leaked from a water treatment plant – a mechanical failure caused the chlorine to escape – at least 500 people were sickened by a cloud of chlorine gas that leaked from the plant – a mechanical failure led to an explosion that caused the chlorine to escape – most of the people who were sickened were taken to area hospitals, treated and released)

AMMONIA Ammonia leak raises what if’ scenario (an ammonia leak at a plant put three people in hospital – at about 1.30pm three staff were sprayed with potentially deadly ammonia and part of the complex had to be evacuated – a man, 58, suffered shortness of breath while a woman, 53, and a man, 28, were not as badly affected – the younger man helped get the other two to safety – after the three were treated on site, paramedics took them to a Hospital for further treatment where they were later discharged – apparently the pipe had been isolated by a contractor but there was a small amount of ammonia still in it)

AMMONIA Atlanta Factory Evacuated Due to Ammonia Leak (an ammonia leak has caused the evacuation of a building that houses a pie factory – the leak occurred at the Pie Factory around 1 a.m. after workers detected a foul odor there – workers were evacuated from the building while crews worked to contain the leak – the ammonia came from a leak in a refrigeration unit – crews capped the leak and were able to prevent the ammonia from entering the sewer system – there were no reported injuries)

AMMONIA Two injured in ammonia leak Thursday (two people working on a crew for the Railway were taken to a Hospital after an ammonia leak at 11:39 p.m. – two people complained of  eye and chest irritation – fire department determined the anhydrous ammonia leak was coming from at a tank – two firefighters shut off the tank’s valve)

Construction

ELECTRICAL & FALL Worker shocked, falls 25 feet at school gym (a worker, 31, was shocked and fell 25 feet in the gym at an Elementary School – he was an electrical contract worker and was working on lights in the gym when he apparently touched a live circuit and fell – no word yet on his condition, but he was not conscious when emergency crews rushed him to the hospital)

TRENCH FATALITY Cave-in kills power line worker (a power line worker is dead, after a trench he was working in collapsed and soil from above filled it in, burying him – severe weather was a factor in the cave-in – he fell into the trench in front of a horrified co-worker, who called for help – but the weather, and heavy lightning, impeded his rescue – emergency workers could not reach him in time to save him, and he was pronounced dead after rescuers pulled him from the dirt and debris)

Bee sting injures worker on rooftop (a construction worker, 20, suffered a reaction to a bee sting while on a rooftop at 8:11 a.m. – the worker was packaged into a backet and was then lowered to the ground – he was transporter to a Hospital – his current condition is unknown)

Fire spreads to 10 floors of Sharjah tower (all of the construction workers were safely evacuated when this fire broke out – fire spread to 10 floors of the residential tower under construction – it took firefighters about two hours to bring the blaze under control – the fire started on the first floor of the 21-storey and spread 10 floors upwards – a faulty electric circuit may have been the cause – an investigation has been launched)

WORKZONE FATALITY Terrebonne Man Killed In Washington Accident (worker, 51, was run over by a dump truck driven by a co-worker Saturday evening)

FALL from LADDER Construction worker in clinic after fall (an elderly builder had to be hospitalized following a work accident – the man may have lost his balance before falling off a ladder – he fell from a height of six metres and landed in an excavation pit – he was taken to a nearby hospital)

WORKZONE FATALITY UNLOADING BARRIERS FROM FLATBED Worker crushed by concrete barrier on New Jersey Turnpike (a truck driver, 51, was crushed to death by a concrete highway divider he was delivering to a construction site on a Turnpike – he was delivering five of the barriers to the site on the northbound side of the superhighway when one of the barriers fell off his flatbed truck on top of him – he was pronounced dead shortly after the 7:50 a.m. accident – he had backed the truck next to a crane for unloading at the delivery site and then started loosening the restraints on the barriers when one fell off the truck – no other injuries were reported)

TRENCH FATALITY Worker killed in Pindi (an under construction water well collapsed killing one worker – eye witnesses said he was working on the well when all of a sudden it collapsed burying him in the debris – emergency staff recovered the body after more than two hours)

Construction Worker Killed in Jobsite Crash (a construction worker, 36, has died from blunt force trauma at a construction site – he was pinned between a truck and a trash bin at a construction site while he was working – he was pronounced dead in the emergency department)

FALL from SCAFFOLDING After 50-Foot Fall, Construction Worker Has Minor Injuries (worker, 29, suffered minor injuries after falling 50 feet from scaffolding while working on an overpass at approximately 11:30 a.m. – he was taken to a University Shock Trauma Center, where he is being treated for minor injuries)

FALL Construction worker falls at construction site (a construction worker suffered critical injuries after plummeting several stories at a construction site – he fell from a fourth floor landing to the ground – investigators are now trying to figure out what caused the accident)

COLLAPSE House collapse injures worker (basement wall crumbles, trapping a man for an hour – he was renovating the one storey house with its owner and another worker when a basement wall gave way, causing the entire building to crumble around 1: 45 p.m. – the two other workers escaped the accident uninjured – they felt the house beginning to shake and got out before the collapse – firefighters retrieved the injured man from the rubble about an hour later – he had a deep cut to his head and a possible broken shoulder)

FALL from SCAFFOLDING Man injured Sunday on Clemson U. construction job (a construction worker, 43, was airlifted to a Hospital following a head injury he received in an accident about 10:15 a.m. – he was wearing his protective equipment when he fell into some scaffolding and struck his head as he was falling – he was conscious when he was airlifted to the Hospital – they were keeping him overnight for observation, but expected to release him in the morning)

BOBCAT Construction Worker Run Over by Bobcat (a man working construction was backed over by a Bobcat – a construction worker was operating a Bobcat just after 3:00 p.m. when he accidentally backed over another employee, crushing the man’s legs – the victim was taken to a Hospital with life-threatening injuries – officers said he could lose his legs, as a result of the accident)

ELECTROCUTION Plumber dies of electrocution in Pasay freak accident (a plumber working for a contractor of a water concessionaire died of electrocution in an accident while working on a pipeline project – the plumber reportedly touched a cable while working on a project at 11:30 p.m. – he accidentally touched an electric cable the contractor was using for its generator)

FALL from SCAFFOLDING Worker Injured Near Palmer Square (worker, 30, fell 16 feet to the ground while working on scaffolding – he suffered a head injury after he fell 16 feel off the scaffolding – he lost his step and fell at 2:16 p.m – he was conscious when police and first aid responders arrived on the scene)

CRANE Crane operator hurt in Causeway mishap (a construction worker is recovering from minor, non-life threatening injuries to his lower leg after a crane toppled over – the crane operator, 33, was using a boom to lift a cement slab when the crane became unstable and toppled over)

CRANE FATALITY Tower crane collapse kills three in N. China (three workers were killed and another one injured after a tower crane collapsed at a construction site of a residential building at 10:30 a.m. – cause of the accident is under further investigation)

MIscellaneouS

WOOD CHIPPER ACCIDENT Tree Worker Injured (an employee of a tree service company was injured in an accident involving a wood chipper shortly before 3 p.m. – the extent of the injuries to the worker were not released)

CHAINSAW Worker injured at work site (a worker, 22, was injured by a chainsaw – the chainsaw kicked back while the worker was removing a tree stump – he suffered a deep cut to his foot – he was transported to hospital where he is listed in stable condition)