47 Incidents & 3 Updates (2/6/12)

2012 Fatality Tracker

Industrial

Six Dead, 50 Trapped in Pakistan Factory Collapse (four women and two children were killed, with dozens of others trapped under rubble when a factory collapsed – the three-storey building used to manufacture veterinary medicines came crashing down, probably the result of a boiler and a gas cylinder explosion at the premises – factory was illegal as it was without the proper registration, and they were hunting down its three partners – a 12 and 14 year-old boy among the dead will shine a light on the use of child labor)

CARBON MONOXIDE 13 Wheeling Workers Hospitalized From Gas Leak (13 people were transported to four area hospitals – the leak occurred at a manufacturing site for aluminum foil products – close to 100 employees were immediately evacuated when several complained of nausea and fumes at 12:20 p.m. – they discovered carbon monoxide levels at 200 parts per million, which is seven times more than the acceptable level- worker were in stable condition, but feeling a bit nauseous – they were treated as a precaution – fire personnel shut off all gas sources and ventilated the facility – workers returned to the building at 2:30 p.m.)

FATAL SLIP/FALL Man dies in fall at dairy near Kerman (a man died after hitting his head during a fall at the Dairy plant about 3 a.m. – employee slipped while walking and hit his head – paramedics were unable to revive the man who died at the scene)

MINE FATALITY One dead, two injured in stone quarry accident (one worker was killed and two others suffered injuries when a section of a cliff at a stone quarry collapsed – large rocks had fallen off the top of one of the stone quarries onto a digger, killing him – a lorry driver and another worker sustained severe injuries – some digging equipment and trucks at the site were also badly damaged – a rescue team pulled out the injured and the dead body from under the rocks)

FATAL FALL from SCAFFOLDING Worker killed in fall at Vigor Industrial shipyard (a worker died in fall at a shipyard shortly after noon – the man was working on a project to add environmental upgrades to an arctic drilling rig – work at the shipyard was shut down after the accident – firefighters were told the man had been working on scaffolding, and fell 70 to 100 feet – shipyard workers were performing CPR on the man when aid crews arrived, and that medics performed five rounds of CPR, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene)

MINE FATALITY China coal mine explosion kills 11 (a gas explosion in a coal mine killed 11 workers and injured six others – one worker remained missing after the explosion ripped through the coal mine – the cause of the accident was under investigation)

GARBAGE TRUCK FATALITY Deffenbaugh Worker Killed in Tragic Accident (a worker, 61, died when the trash truck rolled over him – it appears that he was preparing to back up the truck to collect trash – officers believe he got out of the truck and it rolled backwards over him)

MINE FATALITY Mine collapse kills worker in central Colombia (at least one person has died in a mine collapse – it is not yet known if more people were inside the mine when part of it collapses – one person was recovered but died on the way to hospital)

CRANE on LOGGING TRUCK Worker’s leg crushed for seven hours (a man was trapped by his crushed leg in a remote location for almost seven hours after a forestry accident – the logging truck driver, who is in his late 40s, was on the back of his truck using a self-loading crane to load logs when the boom spun around and pinned him to the back of his truck by his right leg – the accident was believed to have happened about 3am and he wasn’t discovered until forestry crews arrived at the site several hours later – because the man suffered a massive crush injury it was decided to send two intensive care paramedics to the forestry site – the man’s leg had been without oxygenated blood flow for six or seven hours and there was a risk of a buildup of toxins being released into the body when his leg was freed – he was in serious but stable condition)

UPDATE now a FORKLIFT FATALITY Young man dies as a result of Alabama work accident (a worker, 21, recently lost his battle to survive the injuries he sustained in a work accident late last year – according to reports, the young man’s struggle ended on Sunday, when he died in an Alabama hospital – the once star baseball player couldn’t hold up to the damage that was caused when he was hurt in a forklift accident in December)

LIQUID BURNS Worker suffers serious burns in industrial accident (a worker, 41, suffered serious burns when he was sprayed with scalding liquid at a factory – he was on a ladder trying to unblock a pipe, when the ladder slipped, tearing off a pressure valve just before 4:00am – he was sprayed with a mixture of fat and water, heated to 140 degrees – colleagues put him in a shower to cool the burns until the ambulance crews arrived – he suffered burns to his face, neck and hands and was taken to a Hospital in a serious condition)

ELECTRICAL LINEMAN Worker Badly Burned On Power Lines In Fairfax; Thousands Lost Power (a power worker suffered burns to over 50 percent of his body during a power flash over accident while working on lines – a passerby called authorities after noticing the contractor passed out in his bucket – the power company says “an error was made” that caused the flash over that injured the worker – a flash over is when something or someone makes contact with the electricity and interrupts its flow – the person or object then becomes part of the circuit as the electricity tries to take the closest path to ground – the victim was flown to a burn center and is listed in stable condition)

FALL into NUCLEAR PLANT REACTOR POOL Worker Fell in San Onofre Reactor Pool (just days after a small leak at a Nuclear Power Plant prompted the shutdown of one reactor, the plant confirmed an earlier accident in which a man fell into the plant’s reactor pool – the outside contractor, was leaning over to retrieve a flashlight while working near Unit 2’s reactor pool when he fell – the pool’s more than 20 feet deep and holds water that circulates through the reactor core – the worker was wearing a life vest – there was no fuel in the pool at the time of the accident – the worker was checked out by medical experts at the plant and went right back to work – the man received 5 millirems of radiation which is reportedly not considered a major dose – by comparison, a chest X-ray provides about a 4-millirem dose)

ARC FLASH Construction workers in stable condition following electrical accident (two men, 33 and 63, injured in an electrical accident are in stable condition at a burn unit – they were working on electrical circuits in a second-story room at a Power plant when high voltage wiring arced and flashed, causing both men to receive electrical burns)

55-Galloon DRUM EXPLOSION Omaha worker burned when 55-gallon drum explodes (a worker has been injured in an explosion – he’d been working on a 55-gallon drum when it blew up – he was flown to a hospital for treatment – general manager doesn’t know what caused the explosion but that safety officials have been called in)

GRAIN BIN EXPLOSION Fire And Danger Subsided At Site Of Grain Elevator Explosion (a dozen homes were evacuated as a fire continues to burn at a grain elevator – one worker was burned in the explosion – people living in a quarter-mile radius around the elevator have been moved – crews arrived to find the headhouse on fire – damage to the structure was minimal – one person was taken to a hospital to be treated for burns and is listed in serious condition – the cause of the blast remains under investigation)

FALL from SCAFFOLDING Man Falls From Scaffolding at Jamaica Avenue in Queens (a man, in his 50s, was injured after falling from scaffolding at a warehouse – he suffered head and neck injuries when he fell from scaffolding at a loading dock – it was unclear how many feet he fell)

REFINERY FIRE Fire in oil refinery in Kazakh Shymkent extinguished (fire in the oil refinery has been extinguished – the fire broke out at about 14:30 local time, smoke puffs rose 30 meters high – the fire took place in the rectifying column – the fire has been extinguished – the cause of fire and damage is being clarified – no casualties and injured are reported yet)

POWER PLANT ELECTRICAL Explosion shuts down one unit (an explosion of one of the power units at the Power Project has shut down one of the two units that produce 900 megawatts of electricity – the outer copper connector of a generator turbine housing literally shattered and melted, sending shards of debris everywhere – the cause of the incident is still under investigation)

UPDATE on WWTP EXPLOSION – START UP INCIDENT Explosion at Palm Beach County sludge processing plant (when an explosion ripped through a human sludge processing plant, blowing out a garage door and ripping insulation off of ducts, it forced a shutdown that is expected to continue for at least three more weeks and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars – the 5:15 a.m. explosion on Jan. 24 resulted in a one-night hospital stay for one worker, 33 – the general cause was an obstruction in the air flow in a dryer outlet – the explosion occurred as workers restarted the plant after it had been shut down to clean out the plugged area)

AMMONIA Chemical Leaks Reported At Tyson, Cargill Plants (about 500 workers were evacuated because of an ammonia leak about 9:30 a.m.. at a turkey plant – workers were evacuated as a precaution – there were no injuries and no one was transported from the scene – about 100 stayed inside the plant in areas that were not affected by the leak – the leak was caused by a broken ammonia pipe in an area of the plant where work was being done that involved the cooling system – ammonia is used refrigeration and freezer units – ten people were transported, although there were no apparent serious injuries)

Construction

EXCAVATOR FATALITY Man dies in demolition accident (a man, in his 30’s, has died after he was allegedly struck in the head by an excavator bucket at a demolition site about 2.50 p.m.)

FALL from CEMENT TRUCK Worker Injured in Fall (a cement truck driver was on the development site to pour some concrete when he apparently slipped off the back of his truck – he landed in an 18” trench which was dug to hold the pour – the driver was taken to the hospital to be examined, he was not seriously injured)

CRANE FATALITY Worker dies tragically after crane wire rope fails (a construction worker, 59, died when he was hit by a load which plummeted from a tower crane after the steel lifting rope failed and snapped – the crane was being used to lift a bundle of wood shuttering – from preliminary investigations, an overload did not seem to cause the wire rope failure – the load fell several metres, landing just behind the victim, sadly hitting him and killing him – the man, who was hit in the back, died on the spot)

ELECTRICAL and MANLIFT Worker Shocked While Doing Repairs In Portage (a worker, 32, was injured in an industrial accident at about 2 p.m. – the victim was working for a company that was subcontracted to do roof repairs and maintenance – the victim was being lifted by a sky walk when he made contact with electrical wires)

WORKZONE 2 killed in N.J. Turnpike car accident (an accident on the turnpike killed two when their car crashed into a construction vehicle – the driver of the car, 31, was pronounced dead at the scene – a passenger sitting behind him, age not known, died after being taken to a Medical Center – the crash, which happened around 4:30 p.m., also injured two other passengers and two construction workers – victims’ car was heading north in the truck lanes when it veered into the left shoulder and ran into the back of a vehicle used to protect workers on construction sites – the two construction workers sustained minor injuries)

HOTWORK – PERFECT EXAMPLE of delayed fire Small fire ignited in St. Clair building under construction (roof joists still hot from being cut with a torch sparked a small fire in a gutted building under renovation – workers were cutting away at the roof earlier and nothing was amiss when they left around 5 p.m. – officials believe the still-hot roofing materials smoldered until they caught flame, and emergency crews responded just after 6 p.m.)

Investigation continues into Brentwood trench rescue (investigators are trying to figure out what to do about a workplace accident in which a man was buried up to his neck in mud – rescue teams worked for hours to free a 50-year-old man – the man who was pulled from a trench in the front yard of a home is more than just a contractor to the homeowner – the victim is in the hospital and is expected to be OK)

Crane arm injures two in Carterton (a crane arm protruding from a truck struck two parked cars, injuring two women inside one of the vehicles – the stabilizing arm, part of a crane, came loose and crashed into one car, which careered into another parked vehicle – the crane was being carried on an articulated truck)

MIscellaneouS

TARMAC Boeing Worker Trapped Under Jetliner Is Rescued (a ground crew member was run over by a plane while it was being towed at an Airport – emergency crews rescued the worker who was temporarily trapped beneath the tires of a Boeing 787 – a helicopter transported the man to a Medical Center for treatment of leg injuries – the worker was in serious condition)

UPDATE on GOLF COURSE FATALITY Chesapeake golf course cited after worker’s death (a golf course could face $16,800 in fines after its grounds superintendent was crushed by turf-spraying equipment last summer, but the golf course says it’s doing everything it can to train its workers properly – the equipment looks like an oversized golf cart and carries a tank with fertilizer – it can hold a few hundred gallons of liquid, but it was not full when he was killed – he died of mechanical asphyxiation after he left the sprayer’s engine running on a 15-degree incline without engaging the parking brake and with nothing to block the wheels from rolling – the state’s labor department found the golf course at fault for improper use of the turf sprayer, as well as inadequate training)

HOTWORK EXPLOSION Freeport fire victims still in hospital (two workers, both 30, were hospitalized with burns and 14 pleasure boats dry-docked at a marina were destroyed by fire – one worker was in satisfactory condition and the other was in critical but stable condition – the two injured men were extracting a fuel tank from a boat that was in storage at the marina – believing the tank held no fuel, the men began to cut it out from its position using a power saw – this caused sparks that ignited residual fuel and fumes – over a million dollars’ loss)

UPDATE on ARC FLASH @ HOTEL Hotel fined over worker using metal pliers in electrical panel (the Ontario Ministry of Labour fined the Hotel and Conference Centre $70,000 over a May, 2010 incident in which a maintenance worker was injured – on May 1, 2010, a maintenance worker attempted to use metal pliers to remove a fuse from an electrical panel – an explosion occurred and the worker suffered first, second and third-degree burns)

HOTWORK Fire at Wakefield motorbike repair shop (a fire broke out in a motorcycle repair workshop – two men were treated for smoke inhalation at the industrial unit – workers were doing some welding in the unit when the fire broke out)

FIRE Fire at Mira Loma tire store being investigated (firefighters quickly contained a blaze at a tire store, limiting the damage to a welding machine inside the building – the fire was reported at 8:08 p.m. and 13 firefighters contained the blaze by 8:19 p.m. – there were no injuries and the blaze’s cause was being investigated)

AMMONIA Workers in hospital after Clermiston House ammonia leak (ammonia leak came from a fridge at the care home – two female care workers have been taken to hospital following an ammonia leak from a fridge at an elderly home – pair were overcome by fumes, along with another female colleague who was treated at the scene – seven of the 41 residents were evacuated into their day centre just after 04:00 – fire crews had cleaned up the spill and vented the home by about 06:00)

Deputy Exposed To Chemical Cloud In Leak (a deputy who was taken to a hospital after being exposed to a chemical cloud from a leaking anhydrous ammonia tank – someone broke a valve off the tank at the Cooperative plant and was trying to steal the fertilizer – the deputy, who was investigating the theft, was overcome by the chemical, which had formed a cloud – the deputy was taken to a hospital, treated and later released for a minor ammonia exposure)