33 Incidents & 0 Update (1/9/12)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

2012 Fatality Tracker

Industrial

RAILCAR FATALITY Railroad accident kills BNSF employee (a worker was killed after he was struck by a moving rail maintenance car, throwing him underneath – employees were moving a rail grinder car from one track to another when the car struck the man, throwing him under the car – they were moving the car because they had discovered a leak and were going to repair it – rail grinders are cars with equipment that helps maintain railroad tracks – he was in his fifties and was pronounced dead at the scene)

ELECTROCUTION Fort Polk worker killed in accident (a worker, 23, was killed after being electrocuted – officials are currently investigating the incident and have not released any further information)

MINE FATALITY Worker dies at Harmony’s Doornkop mine (a worker died following a mud rush at a mine – no other details)

FALL Worker injured in 4-metre plunge (a contract worker was rushed to hospital after falling about four metres – the worker was doing inspection work on the site – he suffered what at this time is believed to be a broken arm and lacerations – the fall occurred at around 3:30 p.m.)

MINE FATALITY Two Deaths in 2 Separate South African Gold Mines (a worker died in a falling ground accident – the accident could have been a result of seismic activity that occurred during drilling – an employee died after a mud rush accident)

LOADING DOCK FATALITY Santa Fe Springs grocery worker crushed by big rig identified (coroner has identified a worker, 48, who died after being pinned by a big rig at a grocery warehouse – he was working at the warehouse when the truck, making a delivery and backing up to the loading dock, pinned him up against it)

MINE Injured mine workers airlifted to hospital (three miners, 26, 31, 38, were injured in underground accident after coils of mesh collapsed on them – they are in a “serious but stable condition” – the coils of mesh were stacked against a wall collapsed onto them – one man has suffered chest injuries, one has possible spinal injuries and a fractured wrist, and one has fractured his leg)

DRILL RIG FIRE Oil Field Fire Burns Employee (an oil well worker is recovering after being burned in a fire at an oil field around 2pm – an equipment malfunction caused crude oil to flow to a flare and pit, and then catch fire – one worker sustained 3rd-degree burns on their forearm, face, and back-side)

GRAIN ELEVATOR EXPLOSION Worker at SD grain elevator injured in explosion (one person has been injured in a grain elevator explosion – State Fire Marshal is investigating and has not yet determined what caused the explosion – the injured worker suffered burns and was airlifted to a hospital – two others who were hospitalized as a precaution have been released)

LOTO/GUARDING FATALITY Worker injured in slipper factory dies at hospital (a worker, 35, at a slipper factory was critically injured after being crushed by a machine – he has died at the hospital in course of treatment)

HOTWORK EXPLOSION Man injured in explosion at East Texas shop (a 19-year-old man has been seriously injured in an explosion at a machine shop – the man was burning the top off a barrel that contained flammable fuel in an unventilated area when the accident occurred – the worker’s clothing caught fire and he suffered second and third degree burns from his torso on up – he was airlifted to a Dallas hospital for treatment – no one else was injured)

FATAL EXPLOSION 1 missing, 3 injured in chemical plant explosion (one worker is missing and three others were injured after an explosion ripped through a chemical plant around 2:30 a.m. – explosion shattered windows of the factory and nearby buildings – a worker’s mishandling of peracetic acid caused the blowup, preliminary investigation has found – the worker remains missing – three workers suffered minor injuries and are in stable condition)

CONFINED SPACE FATALITY 1 dead, four injured at Aqaba industrial facility (one worker died and four were injured for inhaling carbon dioxide during repairs of an ammonium fluoride storage tank at an industrial facility – the four workers, who were hired to carry out the annual cleaning at the facility, were caught in carbon fumes as they tries to recover a tool from the tank – the injured were in a stable condition in hospital, but added they inhaled carbon fumes not ammonium fluoride)

FATAL EXPLOSION 6 Killed, 2 Injured in Geothermal Plant Blast (six people were dead and two others injured in a geothermal plant explosion around 3:00 p.m. – rescue work was launched right after the accident – an investigation into the cause of the blast is underway)

Worker Injured In Accident At Old Smurfit Mill Still In Critical Condition (worker was scrapping a tank when a 350-pound piece of metal fell on his chest – paramedics had to revive him with a defibrillator before rushing him to the hospital with broken ribs and in seizure – he is in critical condition)

EXPLOSION Explosion injures 4 firefighters in Winnipeg (fire crew was knocked back about 10-15 feet during the blast at a fibreglass plant – one FF managed to escape without major injuries, while two of his colleagues suffered concussions from the blast – no one was working in the building due to the holiday – the fire caused around $5 million in damage)

Railroad car malfunction leads to ammonia leak in North Portland (an ammonia leak on a rail car prompted a hazmat response – a hazmat team initially approached the rail car, but their monitoring equipment detected such high concentrations of ammonia that the levels on their equipment maxed out – they were forced to withdraw and get additional protective clothing and equipment – hazmat technicians were able to re-approach the rail car and stop the leak, which had been caused by a malfunctioning pressure relief valve – there were no injuries in the incident)

AMMONIA Ammonia leak leads to evacuations in Dade City (a half mile radius has been evacuated after a valve broke on a tank, spilling anhydrous ammonia near an Industrial Park – investigators tell us they’re trying to bleed off about 200 pounds out of a 500-pound tank – trains have also been rerouted from the area)

AMMONIA Ammonia leak leads to evacuations in Grand Chute (a chemical leak led to at least 35 people being evacuated – it happened at a bulk cold storage company around 2 p.m. – fire department says it found an ammonia leak inside the building – four nearby streets were shut down while crews worked to fix the leak – air monitoring outside showed no threat to people – a cause remains under investigation)

Construction

Wood lodged in worker’s arm in accident at Woolmar (a worker has been taken to hospital after bits of wood became “impaled” in his arm at a work site – it unknown what his condition is)

EXCAVATOR FATALITY Man Killed in Construction Accident (worker was pinned between an excavator and a house – a worker was operating an excavator on the hillside of a home when he was suddenly ejected from the operator’s seat – he was pinned between the corner of the house and by the machine – firefighters used airbags to lift the machine off the victim and immediately administered CPR – he was transported to a Medical Center where he died)

TRENCH FATALITY TTEC accident survivor satisfactory (a concrete slab fell on a worker, 19, and co-worker, 35, who died – the two men were reportedly putting up braces in the hole when the hole caved in causing a concrete slab to fall on the two men – one worker however managed to free himself and crawl to safety, but the other worker remained trapped under the concrete slab – by the time he was pulled out he was already dead – he suffered a fractured skull and other injuries)

Slab of concrete sends construction worker to hospital (a construction worker is in the hospital after an excavator was carrying concrete and a chunk, weighing about 300 pounds came loose and hit the worker – the slab of concrete forced the worker into a hole – worker suffered a tough blow but will likely be okay)

FALL Construction worker escapes serious injury in fall at bridge site (a worker at a turnpike construction site suffered minor injuries in a fall at about 10:30 a.m. on the overpass of the on-ramp to the turnpike – a steel I-beam the man was standing on shifted suddenly, apparently throwing him about 10 feet into the air and 30 feet from the beam – he sustained only minor injuries and was taken to a hospital with bruising to his side and legs)

FALL Worker falls at home-building site (a man was sent to a hospital after falling at a construction site – the middle-aged man apparently received non-life-threatening injuries when he fell from a second-floor beam onto the main floor of a home under construction just before 1 p.m. – he landed on a wood-sheeted floor – the worker was unconscious for a short period of time)

TRENCHING Workers injured at Toronto subway construction site (two workers have been injured at a subway construction site – the workers, ages 42 and 26, have suffered non-life threatening injuries after being hit by a backhoe while in an open pit)

MIscellaneouS

Falling tree crushes, kills road worker (a 12-foot section of a tree trunk being removed from a right-of-way fell and crushed a road-crew worker, 45, to death – he was working with other crew members to bring the tree down at about 2:15 p.m. – co-workers used heavy equipment to remove the tree and performed CPR)

FATAL FALL Maintenance worker plunges to his death (a worker, 28, plunged to his death while providing maintenance in an elevator – the worker died on the spot after falling from the eighth floor around 9am – he was carrying out routine work and was repairing a technical problem in the elevator of a building)

SNOWBLOWER AMPUTATION Essa worker trapped in auger (a worker was airlifted to a  hospital after getting his arm stuck in the auger of a sidewalk snowplow just after 8 a.m. – the public works employee was stuck in the machine for two hours before emergency crews extricated him and he was airlifted with serious, but non-life threatening injuries – he was operating the sidewalk snowplow and brought it into the building to dislodge something from the auger – his clothing got caught in the auger, which was running at the time, and he was pulled inside)

BUCKET TRUCK TIPPED Village Worker Injured When Truck Tips Over (a public works lift truck tipped over while an employee, in his late 40’s, was taking down Christmas decorations around 1:30 p.m. – the truck, outfitted with a boon, tipped over – worker was taken to a Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries – worker either jumped or was hurled off the boon when the truck tipped over)

ELECTROCUTION Worker suffers electric shock on Ballarat cycling course (a worker, 47, remained in a critical condition in hospital after suffering a major electric shock while setting up speakers – he was attaching speakers to a tree just before 12pm when one of the cables he was handling came into contact with an overhead power line – he had been standing on top of a mini van attaching the speakers, when a co-worker threw him a speaker cable – another person threw him the cable intending for it to go over the top of the tree, but it’s struck the overhead power line instead)