38 Incidents & 0 Updates (9/14/11)

2011 Fatality Tracker 

Industrial

ELECTRICAL Worker injured in utility plant accident (a contract worker, 54, suffered significant burns to his body when he came into contact with a 69,000-volt breaker at the Plant, causing a large section of Austin to lose power for approximately an hour – the victim suffered first- and second-degree burns over most of his body)

MINE FATALITY Drill operator killed at First Uranium mine (an accident at a mine killed a drill operator – operations have been halted until an investigation into the cause of the accident can be completed – the drill operator was killed by a “fall of ground”, or collapse, on the Number 50 level of the underground mine)

ELECTRICAL OPPD worker in hospital after shock (a worker suffered an electrical shock injury and was taken by ambulance to a Medical Center – he was in fair condition at the hospital – the incident occurred about 10:40 a.m. when the man came in contact with energized equipment – did not elaborate on the type of equipment or other details of the accident – the worker was conscious and talking when he was taken to the hospital)

FATAL EXPLOSION Explosion at French nuclear facility (an explosion at the nuclear facility has killed one worker and left four others injured – the facility was not a nuclear power plant, but was a nuclear waste reprocessing facility – the explosion occurred in a furnace designed to melt radioactive waste with low to very low activity levels – the subsequent fire was contained within the hour of the explosion, but the cause of the explosion is currently unknown – no radioactive leak has occurred and therefore no one has been evacuated from the surrounding area)

TRUCK UNLOADING FATALITY Man crushed by generator (worker, 30, has died after being crushed in an industrial accident – it is believed he was crushed by a generator as it was being unloaded – ambulance staff were called but found the man dead – the man worked for a transport contracting firm – he has became trapped between the truck and the generator, and died at the site)

Body of Okla. oilfield worker found at well site (an oilfield worker, 64 was found dead near a well site – he was a contract employee who, for some reason, climbed the fence surrounding the well – he was looking up when the jack came down and hit him)

Poultry worker burned in workplace accident (shortly before 5:00 p.m. an employee suffered burns while working on a pipeline – a male employee was preparing the piping at the end of the shift to be drained – broth is drained through a pipe line and into equipment for soup manufacturers – as the employee was working on the piping, a valve or clamp on a joint came loose and splattered the employee with hot broth – the employee was transported to a Medical Center for non life threatening injuries – the worker suffered 2nd degree burns on his body – from there, the employee was transported to a Burn Center for 3 days receiving standard burn care)

CONFINED SPACE FATALITY Worker dies at Rosetown grain elevator (a worker, 27, is dead following an accident at a grain elevator – a crew was called to the scene around 11 a.m. and found a man trapped in grain – firefighters entered the pit and were able to free the man, but it was too late)

CRANE FATALITY Electrician dies in freak accident at smelter (a worker, 55, died in a freak accident at a smelter while he was testing machinery to ensure it was safe – a carbon maintenance department electrician was about to hand over a crane to an operator when the accident happened – he was reportedly carrying out final tests on the machine when one of its hooks got entangled in scaffolding pulling it on top of him)

ELECTROCUTIONS Two Alberta workers killed in separate electrical accidents (a 34-year-old electrical foreman died while installing cables at a camp for oil and gas workers – the second accident occurred when an employee was killed while working on a power transmission project)

DUST EXPLOSION Man burned in industrial accident (a man, 46, working at an alloy plant was taken to hospital with second-degree and third-degree burns to 30% of his body after a dust explosion and fire – firefighters evacuated a warehouse following an explosion that occurred in the plant’s dust collection unit near a door – a burnt-out forklift stood next to the door and could have been the source of a secondary explosion – the injured worker suffered second-degree burns on his torso and third-degree burns on his legs and back – his condition was listed as serious, and he was scheduled to be transported to a burns unit – the man may have also suffered a blast injury, which could affect his internal organs – damage to the building is estimated at $50,000, while damage to the contents is estimated at an additional $50,000, plus $10,000 for the destroyed forklift)

EXPLOSION Worker injured in explosion at Burnwell Gas company (there was an explosion just after 3 p.m. at the company’s building – officials are reporting that the fire is finally out after battling with the flames for 5 hours – the only worker in the facility at the time suffered burns to his face and arms – he was taken to a Hospital – residents in the area were told to evacuate as there were several subsequent explosions)

ELECTROCUTION Officials investigating death at DSM Chemicals plant in Augusta (a contract maintenance worker, 41, was electrocuted at the Chemical plant – he as working on electrical equipment when he came into contact with “live” electric service – he was transported to a Hospital where he was pronounced dead about 9:30 a.m. – contractor has not had a recorded injury at the DSM site in the past million work hours, or the equivalent of slightly more than three years)

FIRE Fire at Norfolk welding plant forces evacuations (fire officials are trying to figure out what sparked a fire at a welding plant about 8:00 a.m.  -evacuations of people up to half-a-mile away were ordered because of the risk of explosion – by 9:30, that order had been reduced to only adjacent businesses – five acetylene bottles were venting fire and several others were being cooled to prevent them from igniting)

FATAL EXPLOSION Blast at chemical plant kills 3 (three people were killed and another three wounded in an explosion at a chemical plant – the cause of the explosion at the privately owned plant is not yet known and no leaks of liquid or toxic gas were detected – the plant produces nontoxic polyvinyl alcohol, which is commonly used in the manufacture of glue and acetic acid, a food additive that can be corrosive when concentrated)

FIRE 1 hurt in power plant fire, generating unit damaged (a fire that appears to have started with an oil leak on the grounds of the decommissioned nuclear plant damaged a separate power generator and required the use of fire-retardant foam to be brought under control – one plant employee had minor injuries and was being treated at a Hospital – the fire appeared to start with a leak in a lubricant-oil tank near the generator)

FIRE Fire damages Arkansas PVC fittings plant (a production facility was destroyed by fire – there were no injuries reported but the fire affected the firm’s PVC fittings operation – the fire started around a casting furnace used to melt copper – it started slowly but workers couldn’t get it extinguished – by the time the fire department got there, it had gone to the roof – roughly 175 employees have been indefinitely laid off because of the fire)

Construction

FALL Man falls 45 feet at Des Moines construction site (a construction worker, 27, fell about 45 feet at 8:20 a.m. – initial emergency radio reports indicated the worker was conscious but was having trouble breathing – he apparently suffered multiple fractures)

WORKZONE FATALITY Dump truck backs over construction worker at Interstate 49 construction work site (Sheriff’s Office’s traffic safety unit is investigating an accident in which a dump truck backed up over a road worker, 40, at a construction site for Interstate 49 – he was working on the road near the front of a paving machine when the truck backed up to dump a load of concrete in front of the machine)

ROOF COLLAPSE Construction accident at Mount Blue High School (a worker is injured after a construction accident where the roof of the high school was being held up by a temporary support system – some of the trusses holding up the roof collapsed, injuring one worker – no students were inside the building at the time)

WORKZONE FATALITY Road worker killed at York and Lake streets (a road construction worker, 38, was struck and killed by a semi tractor trailer at 11:02 a.m. – he was pronounced dead at 11:45 a.m. at a hospital – preliminary findings from the autopsy show he died from “massive traumatic injuries from the accident” – he was in a squatting position in the gravel portion of the road’s shoulder when he was struck by the semi)

TAR POT BURNS Tualatin construction worker severely burned (a construction worker was rushed to the hospital with severe burns – a tar pot spilled on the man as he worked with a crew in a parking lot – the victim was flown to a burn center because his injuries were so severe – he suffered burns over 8% of his body)

WORKZONE Woman Injures OKC City Worker In Hit And Run Accident (police have arrested a driver after they hit a city worker with their car and fled the scene around 11 a.m. – worker, 39, was setting up a traffic counter when he was hit – the driver then ran a red light and took off – worker was transported to an area hospital with non life threatening injuries – driver is being held on several complaints including leaving scene of injury accident, driving left of center, and driving under the influence of drugs)

WORKZONE Accident injures construction worker on H-1 Freeway offramp (around 8:30 a.m. a construction worker, in his 40s, was taken to a Medical Center – he appears to have been putting out road construction signs and was struck by the vehicle)

WORKZONE FATALITY Construction worker is killed when he is run over by asphalt roller (a construction worker, 40, was killed when he was run over by an asphalt roller – he was standing near a road at a construction site when it happened – another worker was driving the roller on a road when he lost control and it ran over the worker)

EXCAVATION Eastlake gas leak being repaired (a construction worker causes a gas leak  after hitting a gas main around 12:30 PM – there are no injuries or evacuations, but residents are being advised to stay inside and motorists are asked to avoid the area – workers are repairing the six inch main)

TRENCH FATALITY Worker dies in drain collapse (a worker, 24, died after he was crushed by falling clay as he was laying a drain at a housing development – workmates scrambled with a digger and spades to try to dig him out, but could not save him – he was working in a 3m-deep square hole when the clay collapsed – his workmates performed CPR on him until an ambulance arrived)

WORKZONE FATALITY TDOT worker struck, killed Thursday at I-40, 240 (a Department of Transportation worker, 41, was killed when he was struck by a pickup on an interstate at about 10:45 a.m. – the 48-year-old driver of a 2001 Ford F-150 pickup told investigators that he was heading west on an I-40 ramp leading to northbound I-240 when the worker stepped into traffic – the crash remains under investigation – he had worked for the department since 2007 – he was working with a crew preparing to close an interstate shoulder)

WORKZONE Serious Accident on I-295 Blocks All Northbound Lanes (a serious accident on Interstate 295 involving a construction crew had all northbound lanes blocked and caused major delays for morning drivers with backup for miles -the accident happened around 6 a.m. when a construction crew in a pickup truck was finishing up work and gathering cones from the roadway – the driver of another vehicle slammed into the back of their truck and forced both vehicles into the guardrail – the construction worker picking up the cones was able to jump out of the way and was not seriously hurt – the driver of the other vehicle was trapped and emergency crews shut down the northbound lanes as they responded to the scene)

FLASH FIRE Worker burned when gasoline vapors ignite (a restoration worker received first and second degree burns from gasoline that ignited and caused a vapor explosion at a house – the worker was working on the floors using gasoline in a bedroom when the gasoline ignited shortly after 4 p.m. – paramedics treated and transported the worker to a Medical Center – damage to the home was estimated at $10,000)

CRANE Lanes reopened after crane topples on Indiana Toll Road (a 35-ton crane with its boom completely extended, toppled over on I-90 at 6:53 p.m. – the crane, in the closed middle lane of a construction zone, was moving a load of steel rebar from the construction area onto its side when the crane toppled and the body blocked the far left westbound lane – the boom blocked the far right lane leaving all westbound lanes blocked – the crane operator, 52, was not injured)

MIscellaneouS

LIGHTING FATALITY Lightning Kills Adventure Island Lifeguard (a lifeguard, 21, died after he was struck by lightning – he was working at a 700-foot tall water slide when he was struck – he was trying to get riders away from the water slide – he was standing in 3-feet of water – other park workers tried CPR but failed to revive him)

ELECTROCUTION Landscaper electrocuted, dies in accident (worker, 48, died while working with a landscaping crew – he was up in a tree about 20 feet with a safety line and harness – he was working with a gas-powered pole saw, a saw that is at the end of a long pole, when other workers heard a loud pop and saw him dangling from his safety line – it appears he came in contact with a power line)