23 Incidents & 2 Updates (8/29/11)

2011 Fatality Tracker 

Industrial

LOTO & CONVEYOR Tampa Pepsi plant conveyor belt accident causes critical injuries (an employee, 39, suffered critical injuries when his leg was crushed in a machine – the incident marked the third major casualty at the plant in less than six months – at 11:31 a.m., a caller to 911 reported that an employee was pinned with his left leg trapped in a conveyor rail system at the plant – he had been cleaning the system before his co-workers heard him screaming and rushed to his aid – members of the fire department’s heavy rescue team worked for nearly 90 minutes to free the man from the machinery – he was airlifted to a Hospital with what rescuers said were life-threatening injuries – in March, a man was killed and another seriously injured at the same plant when an automated storage-retrieval system collapsed on them – in the warehouse portion of the plant, which is at least 100 feet tall and lined with products, a mechanical lift fell from about 20 feet and crushed the men – both men were contractors doing maintenance work on the system, which is used to move pallets of products)

UPDATE on LOTO FATALITY Workers deny causing death of man who fell into pasta machine (three colleagues of a man who died after being sucked into a pasta mixer have been accused of causing the tragedy – they all denied the charges before the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours – the victim, 28, died when his upper body got trapped in a machine that mixes flour with water to prepare pasta – prosecutors said worker, 45, an electrician, 30, and a machinery operator, 40, did not provide workers with proper training on the dangers of operating the mixer, or properly supervise – forensics report said worker died instantly – ANATOMY of a LOTO fatality… “I went along with KW to check the mixer,” FA said.  While trying to find the reason for the malfunction, the mixer set off the alarm. FA asked KW to shut off the electricity. MR, who had been standing behind him, violated procedure, according to FA. “MR opened the automated door before the shutdown was complete and he was sucked in due to air pressure,” FA testified. KS denied responsibility and said MR died by his own mistake, adding that MR was trained to work with the mixer.  “When the electricity is shut down, the mixer’s door opens automatically and should not be opened manually before that unless the electricity shutdown was complete,” KS said in records.  He added that the mixer contains sharp blades and that all workers had been trained how to operate it.”

AMMONIA Firefighters respond to ammonia leak at Union Co. plant (firefighters were called to an ammonia leak at a plant around 3:30 p.m. – as of 4:20 p.m., the leak was under control and there were no evacuations – coincidentally, the plant is across the road from the poultry processing plant which had an ammonia leak early this month – workers at that plant just returned to work on Sunday after the plant was shut down for nearly two weeks)

VW worker seriously injured at Chattanooga plant (a worker was seriously hurt at the assembly plant – the injury was non-life-threatening – plant emergency personnel responded immediately and medical attention was given – no word on what happened)

Man seriously injured in industrial accident (a worker has been injured in an industrial accident – a man suffered serious injuries to a limb in the accident – the injuries are not considered life threatening – it is not immediately clear how the man was injured)

FATAL EXPLOSION Explosion Kills 3 Contract Workers (an explosion at an oil storage site has killed three people – the explosion and subsequent fire happened about 10 am and the three people who died were contract workers – no details as ot what happened or how)

MINE FATALITIES 4 Miners Dead in Cave-In at North Mexico Coal Mine (four miners have been killed in an explosion that caved in part of a coal mine – accident was caused by methane gas – 132 other workers escaped unharmed and the bodies of the dead miners have been recovered)

CHEMICAL REACTION EXPLOSION One injured in Cambridge chemical explosion (a small explosion at a chemical plant sent one person to hospital at approximately 9:15 a.m. – employees were evacuated and a worker was treated for minor injuries resulting from a reaction between small amounts of dichloromethane and ethyl acetate – the reaction caused a container to shatter, and a chemist had glass embedded in his face, neck and chest, but none of the chemical got onto him – the worker was taken to a Hospital)

UPDATE on HYDROGEN EXPLOSION FATALITY W.Va. jury says AEP negligent in fatal 2007 blast (a West Virginia jury has awarded $7 million in damages to the family of a worker killed in a 2007 explosion at a Power plant – jury found the company and a subsidiary negligent in the death of te worker – punitive damages awarded totaled $5 million – jurors awarded $2 million in compensatory damages – the worker was delivering hydrogen to the Power Plant when an explosion occurred in the hydrogen storage area – he was a truck driver)

HOTWORK Northeast Austin warehouse fire blamed on welding torch (a welding torch is said to be the cause of a warehouse fire)

REFINERY FIRE Oil fire ignites again in petro plant (an oil tank at a petrochemical plant caught fire – it took about 300 firefighters and 50 fire engines three hours to finally put out the fire at 1:20 pm – the tank was close to another three tanks storing diesel fuel, which was safely transferred to other places – the oil tank began to burn at 10:06 am – about 800 tons of diesel oil were stored in the tank when the fire broke out – no injuries were reported, and all the wastewater was recycled – this is the second fire at the plant within two months at the company – on July 16, a refinery device caught fire at the plant but stopped short of causing any injuries)

REFINERY FIRE Marathon refinery fire spurs temporary worker evacuation (refinery shut a continuous catalytic reformer after a fire – the fire started after a flange leak caused by a pressure change in the unit following a power failure – contractors were temporarily evacuated as a precautionary measure)

FATAL EXPLOSION 5 Killed, 2 Injured in South Korea Chemical Plant Blast (five people were killed and two were injured when an explosion destroyed a lab at a chemical textile company – the victims were working with flammable chemicals when the explosion occurred – the three-story steel and cement laboratory building was gutted by fire – an investigation is under way to determine the cause of the blast)

AMMONIA Ammonia leak sends 2 people to hospital (two people were transported to a hospital after an ammonia leak at a chemical supply company – the leak occurred about 3 p.m. – two of the seven employees in the building at the time of the leak were taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure, then treated and released – the leak came from drums of liquid ammonia that were dropped during transport in the building – one or two of them fell off the pallet and basically just spilled on the floor)

Construction

WORKZONE FATALITY Illinois Department of Transportation worker killed on job (a worker, 34, was struck and killed by a car while working for the Department of Transportation – he was pronounced dead at a Hospital from severe head trauma – he was measuring the roadway when he was struck but wasn’t in a construction zone – he had been with the department since 2002 and primarily worked to inspect job sites)

BULLDOZER FATALITY Bulldozer crushes construction worker near Livermore (a construction worker, 51, was crushed to death by a bulldozer near the wind farms – he was grading a new road around 1 p.m. when his bulldozer began to tip – the driver, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected – the bulldozer then rolled over the man, killing him, and continued to roll down a hill)

Earthmover runs over worker at airport site (a worker, 19, died in an accident at the construction site of the new international terminal when he slipped and fell in front of an earthmover – the huge machine ran over him before the driver could apply brakes and move the blade away – the accident happened around 6pm)

BACKHOE Construction worker pinned under debris (at about 8:30 a.m. at an old shopping plaza that is in the process of being torn down, a backhoe was removing part of the building while an employee inside sprayed water to control the dust – debris was knocked over by the backhoe and the man was pinned beneath the debris for several minutes – workers took a chain and tied it to the backhoe and lifted the debris off the worker to provide access to the EMTs to provide him medical attention and to provide him relief – he never lost consciousness and was talking throughout the ordeal – he suffered internal injuries and injuries to his lower body – they are not considered life threatening)

FATALITY Worker dies at Phoebe Sumter construction site (an electrician, 21, has died in an accident at a construction site – few details were available about how the accident happened)

EXCAVATION & ELECTRICAL 2 Atlanta Gas Light workers hurt (two gas workers have been injured while trying to repair a ruptured gas main when they struck an underground power line – one of the workers was taken to a hospital in stable condition, and the other was treated at the scene)

ELECTRICAL 1 burned, 4 stuck on top of water tower after equipment touches power lines (one worker was injured and four others were stuck on top of a 250-foot water tower after their equipment touched some power lines around 11:30 a.m. – several contract workers were pulling communications equipment up the tower when a wind gust caused their wire to brush a live power line, causing the tower to become energized – witnesses heard several explosions in quick succession – one of the men was within a safe distance from the ground and jumped from the tower – he suffered some burns and was transported to the hospital – all of the workers involved were in stable condition)

Man Hurt After Roof Collapse at Fort Leavenworth (a wall collapsed on a construction worker burying him in bricks and debris – he was renovating a historic building – he managed to walk away with a few broken bones – engineers are looking into the accident to figure out what caused the wall to collapse – the man was pinned under wet concrete, bricks and old mortar – it took more than an hour to dig him out – apparently, it happened when workers were pouring concrete up against the brick to stabilize the wall on top of the floor)

MIscellaneouS

Worker injured at Pembroke Pines Cheesecake Factory (a worker, 43, at a newly opened restaurant was taken to a hospital after he accidentally struck his head while inspecting an air-conditioning unit about 11 a.m. – the employee, who works for the company’s facilities department, never lost consciousness after hitting his head)