30 incidents & 0 updates (3/18/12)

2012 Fatality Tracker

INDUSTRIAL

MINE FATALITY Coal worker suffers fatal injuries at Alpha Natural Resources underground Kingston 2 mine (a coal miner, 34, suffered fatal injuries at the underground mine – he was struck by material from the mine side wall in an accident involving a rib roll during an evening shift – coworkers administered CPR before he was removed from the mine and taken by ambulance to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead)

PEDESTAL GRINDER FATALITY Worker Killed in Berkeley Plant Accident (apparently a grinding wheel shattered and sent metal pieces flying, hitting the worker, 33, in the head – officials are now investigating whether the grinder had proper guards and was properly maintained – he was struck in the back of the head by a piece of metal while working on a grinding wheel)

CRUSHED by BEANS Warehouse Worker Crushed to Death by 15-Foot Pile of Pinto Beans (a warehouse worker, 56, was killed when he was crushed by a pile of pinto beans – he was working inside a storage warehouse when the accident took place – he was buried under a mound of beans 15 feet (4.6 meters) high – beans were brought into the storage unit on an overhead conveyor belt, but it was unclear how the man came to be crushed by them – it took 55 rescuers an hour to dig him free, but he was already dead)

LOADING DOCK Worker suffers serious head injury in loading dock incident (an incident at a food distribution warehouse left a worker, 38, with head injuries – the accident was discovered after a driver finished backing his 49-foot tractor trailer unit into a loading dock – the trailer came into contact with the dock as it should, but when the driver got out of the truck and walked into the building, he noticed another man sitting inside, bleeding – the worker indicated his head got caught between the tractor trailer and the wall – worker was taken to hospital with a suspected skull fracture)

FATAL EXPLOSION – HOTWORK Gas Explosion At Waste Center In Goyang Kills 1, Injures 5 (one worker was killed and five others injured when the explosion happened at a waste recyclying center – the workers were cutting gas pipes to dismantle an unused generator when the explosion occurred – fire officials suspect the accident happened after a spark came into contact with gas leaking from an open valve – the recycling center treats sewage and other waste)

Teenager crushed by pallet weighing nearly a ton (a teenager, 18, factory worker was crushed by a pallet weighing nearly a ton – he is understood to have suffered a broken hip in the accident – the pallet, with a roll of fibre glass on it, was being unloaded when the accident happened – worker had started at the factory as part of a 12-month training scheme but he was taken on after nine months in January because he had impressed the firm’s bosses)

MAINTENANCE FATALITY Authorities ID worker killed at Neb. beef plant (a maintenance worker, 37, died in an accident at a Food plant when a piece of equipment he was working on collapsed on him – he died at a hospital – the beef slaughter and processing plant was not in operation when he was injured)

MINING AMPUTATION Miner loses fingers in Dendrobium accident (an accident at an underground coal mine cost a worker three fingers – a coal tram driver lost his ring and pinky fingers, and thumb, when his hand became caught between the tram and the mine wall – the employee in his 40s required hospital treatment and is now recovering at home)

MINE FATALITY Uranium mine worker killed in Baikal region (a uranium miner, 26, was killed by a collapsed roof at the mine – the accident took place between the seventh and eighth levels of the mine when the miner was opening a ventilation system valve)

ELECTROCUTION Worker killed at arsenal (a worker for a sub-contractor working on a construction project apparently was electrocuted when a section of a 20-foot steam pipe he was removing came in contact with an overhead electrical line – a preliminary investigation indicated the worker was preparing to remove a section of pipe supported by hanger straps when the pipe slipped in the strap and one end struck the power line – he was working about 15 feet above the ground when the accident occurred – a doctor pronounced him dead in an emergency room at 4:40 p.m.)

GUARDING/LOTO Horror as worker is trapped in machinery at Leicester print firm (a factory worker, 53, suffered serious head injuries when he became trapped in machinery and had to be freed by colleagues using bolt cutters – the injured worker was taken by air ambulance to a Hospital and is understood to be seriously ill)

FORKLIFT PROPANE TANK EXPLOSION Explosion burns man at Vancouver bag factory (a man was sent to an area hospital with second-degree burns on his arms after being engulfed in a fireball at 11:55 p.m. – worker had been refilling his forklift with propane – after the man vented the propane tank to make sure it was full he started the forklift – gas vapors in the air ignited, causing the fireball – he had second-degree burns on both arms and was transported to a local hospital)

FIRE and SO2 RELEASE No one hurt, but DE City refinery blaze apparently sparks SO2 release (no one was hurt when a fire broke out in a furnace at a refinery – the fire started at about 4:45 and was brought under control by company crews shortly afterward – no cause had been determined, because the area hadn’t yet cooled down enough for workers to investigate – DNREC is looking into the release of 364 pounds of sulfur dioxide apparently stemming from the fire)

MAGNESIUM FIRE Lightning Most Likely Caused Refinery Fire, Marshal Reports (a fire was sparked by natural causes – fire investigators ruled the cause of the blaze as ‘Natural’, saying that the fire was most likely due to a lightning strike – four semi trailers containing scraps of magnesium were ignited and burned for more than five hours – the fire was eventually brought under control and no one was injured in the blaze)

CONSTRUCTION

LOADING DOCK FATALITY Catering service worker killed at D/FW Airport (a catering service employee was killed at an International Airport when he was hit by a truck – the accident happened at the LSG Sky Chefs facility, which supplies meals to departing aircraft – the victim was on the loading dock when he was struck around 6:45 a.m.)

CRANE / MANLIFT FATALITY Vermont Worker Dies From Fall at New Hampshire Construction Site (a worker, 53, at a construction site has died from a head injury after falling at least 15 feet from a lift – he was at a construction site when the hook block of a crane inadvertently made contact with a scissor lift he was working on – that caused the lift to topple over, and he landed on a concrete deck – Medical Examiner’s Office listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head)

WORKZONE Worker hit by dump truck recovering (worker, 68, was injured when a dump truck struck him as he worked on top of a bridge – he was listed in good condition – he had been taken there by medical helictoper following the accident after suffering an “incapacitating” injury to one of his shoulders – accident took place at approximately 4:15 p.m. – he was wearing a reflective safety vest and had stopped vehicles in the highway’s southbound lane in order to mark the road with paint – however no warning signs or flag men were being utilized to inform other drivers of work being conducted – a dump truck was heading southbound and approached the bridge from the north, into a blind curve and reportedly swerved into the northbound lane to avoid the stopped vehicles – after going through the curve, the truck struck the worker, who was knocked back on the roadway)

TRENCH Man Pinned Under Construction Equipment In Critical Condition (seven emergency units and 22 rescuers spent an hour trying to rescue a worker, 26, after an accident at a construction site – a water utilities worker was at the bottom of a 20-foot trench helping to position a large and heavy piece of equipment called a safety box that was being lowered into a ditch when the accident happened – he was unhooking the chains that were used to lower the safety box in and when he did that the box shifted and pinned him between the backhoe and the safety box – he was able to free himself from the equipment – rescuers spent a little more than an hour stabilizing the man and finally using a stretcher tied to the very backhoe that pinned him to lift him out of the ditch)

FORKLIFT Construction Accident Sends Worker To Hospital (a worker is recovering in the hospital after a construction accident – he had just delivered a load of roofing material to a work site – a forklift driver was removing the 400-pound rolls of roofing when some of them fell, pinning the worker underneath – the forklift operator then lifted the rolls off of him and paramedics rushed him to the hospital – he is listed in stable condition)

WALL and WIND Worker injured by wall falling on him in Kaysville (worker, 29, was flown to a Medical Center after a wall fell on top of him at a construction site just after 8 a.m. – the man, along with several others, was putting up a full-size wall about 25 feet long on the second floor, when a gust of wind caught the wall and knocked it over, trapping the man underneath it)

CRANE ELECTROCUTION Man killed as crane hits wires (a crane driver, 42, was killed in a tragic accident when his machine touched overhead wires just before 10 a.m.)

ELECTROCUTION Worker Dies in Fall at Downtown High-Rise (an autopsy by the County Medical Examiner’s office determined that an electrician, 47, who was found unresponsive at a high-rise died after being electrocuted – he was working on the 25th floor of a 26-story building when he was found unresponsive – his co-worker returned from lunch to find him at the bottom of a ladder around 2:12 a.m. – he was pronounced dead at the hospital at 2:55 a.m.)

CRANE and SCAFFOLDING Crane on barge strikes scaffolding on NYC bridge (a crane being towed on a barge has struck scaffolding attached to the underside of a bridge – there are no reports of injuries in Tuesday night’s accident – there doesn’t appear to be any structural damage to the bridge – about 20 feet of scaffolding on the underside of the bridge was damaged – the scaffolding was being used by workers to repaint the bridge)

MISCELLANEOUS

HOTWORK and AEROSOL CANS Welding sparks fire at Ford dealership (fire was in the Pre-Owned portion of the dealership – it looks like most of the fire was contained to the service bay area – it appears that the fire started when workers who were welding and the sparks hit some aerosol cans that were nearby)