43 incidents & 2 updates (9/20/12)

2012 Fatality Tracker

INDUSTRIAL

LOADING DOCK FATALITY – DOCK PLATE Worker Dies in Accident at West Columbia Bakery (a worker, 47, at a bakery died in an accident – she had entered the loading dock to unload a truck, and she was found beneath the loading dock plate – she was pronounced dead at the scene)

LOTO/GUARDING AMPUTATION Trauma team discusses amputating leg of worker trapped in belt pulley (worker, 31, reportedly stepped in an area where he “shouldn’t have been” and got his leg trapped in a belt pulley at the container plant – emergency responders determined they could not dismantle the machine, so the only way to free the trapped worker was to amputate his leg)

LOTO/GUARDING on AUGER Blackduck man hurt in sawmill accident (at approximately 2:08 PM a worker, 21, at the Saw Mill was stuck in an auger – deputies responded to the scene and found an individual who had since been freed from the auger receiving first aid for serious injuries to his extremities and torso)

FATAL EXPLOSION Mexican gas plant fire an accident (a gas plant fire and explosion has left 26 people dead – another 28 workers were injured while seven remained missing at the gas reception and distribution center – it was the third incident at a Pemex facility in a little over a month – on August 13, an explosion rocked a refinery and on the same day a fire broke out at a pipeline after thieves apparently tried to steal diesel from it – no injuries were reported in either incident)

CONFINED SPACE RESCUE Duke Employee Rescued After Falling into Coal Hopper (crews rescued an employee at Steam Station after falling 20 feet into a coal hopper – the accident was caused by a void in a coal pile which allowed the worker and bulldozer to fall into the coal hopper, where he maintained radio contact – the worker was not trapped under any equipment – emergency crews rescued the worker by ladder around 6:45 a.m. – he was transported to an area hospital with minor injuries)

LOTO UPDATE now a LOTO FATALITY Omega Protein investigation after fatal accident results in numerous OSHA violations, fines (an investigation prompted by the April death of a worker, 24, who was caught in a giant rotating screw conveyor has resulted in 25 OSHA health and safety violations – most of them serious — and fines totaling $79,200 – “This terrible incident could have been avoided if the employer had followed OSHA’s standards for energy control procedures” director of the Jackson office, said in a statement)

FATAL FLASH FIRE 3 die in Madurai tyre factory fire (three workers were killed and five more injured in a fire that broke out in a  tyre factory – the blaze broke out around 7.40 am in the paint shop, where the process of mixing paints with solvents to give coating to the finished tyres was carried out – of the eight, who were at work inside the shop at the time of the accident, were charred to death – five others sustained injuries – around 8 electric motors were used in the paint shop where the fire broke out and it was suspected that a spark created by friction in one of the motors could have caused the blaze)

FRONTEND LOADER FATALITY Worker Crushed to Death at Scrap Metal Yard (a worker, 47, was crushed to death in an accident at a scrap metal yard when he was run over by heavy equipment – he was run over by a machine loading a truck with scrap metal – the trackhoe was lifting metal in a tight space and the worker either failed to see the machine coming or the operator didn’t see the worker)

BARGE FATALITY Worker dies on barge at Whyalla (worker, 37, died at a floating offshore platform at 8.55am – he was working for a company which operates barges to transport iron ore – no word on a cause)

CRUSHING FATALITY Worker crushed to death at Ohio cylinder plant (a worker, 60, has been crushed to death at a cylinder plant after he got caught between two large rolls of steel – he died at a hospital after the accident at about 6:30 a.m. – he became caught in the equipment and had to be extricated by medics – he was a 19-year employee who worked in the receiving department, where materials like steel were delivered for manufacturing)

MINE Investigation continues in Perry County mining accident (investigation continues after two rail cars collided at a  coal mine – five workers were injured in the collision – two were flown by medical helicopter but it appears the injures are not life-threatening – one allegedly struck his head and was hospitalized for precautionary reasons, while the other suffered a hip injury – the third victim was taken to a Hospital where he was treated and released)

EXPLOSION Worker airlifted to hospital after explosion at Darlington industrial estate (a worker, 63, is in a serious condition after suffering severe burns in an explosion – he was airlifted to hospital with head, arm and hand injuries after the incident – the man was working on a vehicle at a business that converts petrol cars to gas and was thrown several feet into the air by the force of the blast)

ELECTRICAL LINEMAN and BUCKET TRUCK Utility worker injured repairing wires in Reading (a utility worker, 39, was injured while working on power lines and was rushed to the hospital with bad burns just after 8 a.m. – the victim was in a bucket truck repairing a circuit breaker on a utility pole when there was an explosion – he suffered burns to his arms, abdomen and back – the victim, whose clothes caught on fire, was rushed to a Hospital and is suffering from second-degree burns)

ELECTRICAL LINEMAN and FALL from BUCKET TRUCK Dominion Virginia Power Worker Injured In Transformer Mishap (a contract worker was injured while working on some wires – the worker was in a bucket truck at about 2:10 when a transformer blew, which caused him to fall from the truck – the worker suffered some minor burns when the transformer blew, and was taken to the burn unit of a Hospital to be treated for burns and injuries suffered in the fall)

CRUSHING FATALITY w/ TRACKHOE Worker crushed to death at Belton Metals (a worker, 47, was crushed to death in a trackhoe accident – he had been working for several hours loading an 18-wheeler with scrap metal when he died in the apparent accident around 10:30 a.m. – the trackhoe was lifting metal using an attached magnet to fill the truck while working in an enclosed area and the piece of heavy machinery had only about six to 10 feet to move in any direction – worker was run over by the trackhoe)

UPDATE now a FATAL EXPLOSION Man dies after explosion (worker, 29, burned in an explosion at an oil rig site in early September died of his injuries – Drilling worker was transferring drilling fluid out of a 400-barrel tank at the time of the fire – he was burned over 90 percent of his body at the site – he had worked on the rig since January at different locations and was a derrickman who was not on the rig at the time but working at the 400-barrel tank that exploded)

HOTWORK FIRE Green Bay Warehouse Fire Forces Workers to Flee (a warehouse catches fire – five people were inside the building at the time – they were doing some construction when their torch sparked flammable material, and within minutes the space was engulfed in flames – “It spread so fast it was unbelievable to the point that all we thought we could do was ask for help and get out” – they were cutting into a structure that was not all steel and they didn’t know that until they started cutting into it, a steel exterior and something flammable inside of it)

REFINERY FIRE Venezuela sees refinery fire out on Friday (a fire caused by lightning at Venezuela’s 146,000 barrel-per-day refinery should be extinguished on Friday and operations remained unaffected – an electrical storm late on Wednesday set fire to two naphtha storage tanks at the facility – one of the tanks was extinguished within hours, but the second tank continued to burn)

REFINERY FIRE Fire at Laurel CHS refinery prompts brief evacuation (a at a refinery caused a brief evacuation at about 8:45 a.m. – operators on site were able to extinguished the fire quickly, but refinery fire teams did respond as a precaution – no injuries were reported, but a temporary evacuation of the area was ordered – the cause of the fire remains under investigation and the damage appears to be minimal)

FATAL FALL from STORAGE TANK Corvallis man dies in apparent accident at asphalt plant (a worker, 54, died while trying to take measurements of an oil tank at an asphalt plant – the accident happened when he was measuring the tank, which was situated about 15 feet off the ground – preliminary reports indicate that he died when he slipped off the tank and hit his head on the concrete pad that supported the tank)

LOTO/GUARDING Man’s arm pinned in Sussex industrial accident (just after 6 a.m. at the plant a 23-year-old man had his arm caught in a press machine – maintenance personnel from a nearby company were asked to help – it took 80 minutes for firefighters and maintenance personnel to free the man)

FATAL EXPLOSION Explosion at plant in Sumgait kills 2, injures 10 (as a result of the explosion at the plant of detergents two people died and 10 were injured – the injured are mostly firefighters – according to preliminary data, the killed are workers of the plant)

AMMONIA Ammonia leakage from ice cream factory creates panic in Lucknow (more than 12 persons complained of uneasiness following ammonia gas leakage from an ice factory – the leak created panic in the area to the extent that residents began to leave their homes to escape)

FORKLIFT MAINTENANCE FATALITY Forklift accident kills worker (a worker is dead following a workplace accident involving a forklift – the deceased was working alone replacing a hydraulic lift cylinder on a reach truck – preliminary findings indicate that the reach truck was being lifted by another lifting device – it appears to have dropped as the fork of the second lifting device became dislodged, possibly coming down on the worker)

FORKLIFT FATALITY Ardmore Man Killed in Forklift Accident (a worker, 41, was killed in an accident involving a forklift – first responders rushed to an intersection of Highways 77 and 70 around 11 AM – they found the worker and he was taken to a Hospital where he was pronounced dead)

CONSTRUCTION

WORKZONE Injured worker pulled from under highway paving machine (a highway construction worker was seriously hurt and had to be pulled from beneath a large paving machine at about 3:30 a.m. on a highway paving project – he was identified by the State Patrol and was in critical condition – he went into surgery for a broken pelvis and his injuries were no longer considered life-threatening – took about 45 minutes for fire crews to pull him from under the machine – an initial attempt to lift the paving machine off of him with another piece of equipment did not work – the paving machine was backing up when he was hit)

CRANE DROPS LOAD 2 injured in construction accident in Seattle (two men were injured in a construction accident at about 11 a.m. – a high-angle rescue crew was needed to bring the two construction workers down to ground level so they could be treated – both were then taken to a Medical Center and were expected to survive – the two men apparently were struck by re-bar that was being hoisted by crane to the fourth floor of the building – video shot by a witness showed pieces of re-bar falling from the crane onto the top of the construction site – one of the workers, 34, suffered severe head trauma – the other worker suffered only minor injuries)

WORKZONE FATALITY Construction accident kills worker (an industrial accident on Interstate 80 left one construction worker dead – worker, 53, died around noon after being pinned between a rubber wheel roller and another metal roller on the eastbound travel lane near mile marker 392 – she was declared dead at the scene)

ELECTRICAL and FALL from LADDER Apprentice critical after worksite fall (worker, 20, was up a ladder conducting maintenance work on a garage roller door when he received an electric shock – the electrical apprentice is in hospital after falling five metres at a worksite – the man was up a ladder conducting maintenance work on a garage roller door when he received an electric shock from a live wire – he fell five metres to the ground and sustained serious head injuries – he is currently stable but in a critical condition)

WORKZONE FATALITY INDOT worker killed on job (worker, 27, was killed shortly after 10 a.m. in an accident that occurred in the eastbound land of U.S. 36 – initial reports indicated he was with a group of INDOT workers that were “conducting preventative roadway maintenance by removing dirt and debris from the roadway edges – Eastbound traffic was stopped for the worker, who was acting as a flagman, when an eastbound white 2006 Toyota Matrix failed to stop and veered to the right in an apparent attempt to avoid a rear-end collision with stopped traffic – in doing so, the white Toyota struck the worker, “propelling him onto the hood of the car and partially through the windshield” -the worker, who had been a DOT employee since 2007, was standing on the south side of the roadway near the grass and not in the travel portion of the roadway – he was pronounced dead at the scene by Deputy Coroner)

WORKZONE FATALITIES 2 fence workers killed on I-40 (State Police say two workers have died and a third was injured after a recreational vehicle hit them on Interstate 40 – workers were preparing to install fencing in the I-40 median when the RV swerved into the median and hit them – one worker died at the scene and the second at a hospital – the third worker has been released from the hospital)

WORKZONE Construction worker injured in Franklin Lakes hit-and-run (a construction worker was injured in a hit-and-run accident – the worker was a flag man regulating traffic in the construction zone and was hit just before 8 p.m.- worker was taken to a Medical Center with minor to moderate injuries – the company was cited with violating a borough ordinance for not having proper warning signs leading up to the site, among other safety measures)

WORKZONE FATALITY Dump truck clipped power line before killing worker (paint marks on the road show where dump truck flipped, pinned and killed a flag man, 67 – the traffic control worker died after the box on a dump truck hooked a power line and then tipped over at a construction site – two others were taken to hospital)

MANLIFT FATALITY Man killed in industrial accident near Graham (a worker, 25, was killed in an industrial accident – worker was trapped between a manlift and a framing timber for about two minutes – he was freed and flown by helicopter to a Medical Center, but he was later pronounced dead)

WORKZONE FATALITY Construction worker on Idalou Road dies from accident (a driver moving a mobile home struck and killed a construction worker, 20 – he was killed instantly while he was in the middle of a cement paving job)

WORKZONE FATALITY Construction worker killed in early morning accident (a construction worker, 42, was killed after being struck by an 18-wheeler in a construction zone on I-35 just after 2:00 a.m. – he was working to put up a sign near and  that’s when he was hit by an 18-wheeler)

ELECTRICAL Electrician involved in ‘high voltage’ accident at Ozark high school (at least one electrician was injured at the new High School construction site after he was exposed to an arc that went across multiple wires – another worker may have suffered a muscle spasm – both the electrician and another construction worker, who was initially believed to have had a heart attack at the school, were transported to a local hospital – it was not clear if both incidents were related – neither injury appeared life-threatening as of 4 p.m. and that it was later determined that the worker believed to have had a heart attack may have instead suffered a muscle spasm)

ELECTROCUTION Work-related accident claims life of Ellsworth construction worker along I-94 (a construction worker, 34, was killed -State Patrol responded to I-94 eastbound near mile post 39 for a report of a subject who was lying on the ground unresponsive who had possibly been electrocuted – upon arrival, it was determined that he was working on replacing guard rails – he was in contact with a piece of construction equipment that struck an overhead power line – he was transported to a Hospital where he passed away)

CRANE Crane accident probe launched (an investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding an incident which saw a worker hit by a crane while carrying out improvements to an outfall pipe – a sub-contractor, 59, was hit across the back by a boom from a crane on the site at around 10.45 a.m. – he was airlifted to a Hospital)

MISCELLANEOUS

TRACTOR FATALITY Dairy worker killed in accident (a worker, 19, at a dairy farm was killed in an accident involving a tractor – the worker reportedly was run over by a tractor driven by a co-worker – the co-worker was in a tractor with the bucket raised and didn’t see the worker in front of him – he was pronounced dead at the scene)

FATALITY UPDATE – Now a LOTO FATALITY US Airways cited for employee’s death (company is facing $21,000 in fines for not properly training baggage workers on how to safely operate equipment after a worker, 61, was killed by a conveyor belt in February – worker was clearing bags out of the conveyor system Feb. 17 when he stepped into an area without properly shutting down the system – he was struck on the head and killed by a portion of the ramp that moved when another bag came along because he had not properly shut down all of the system components – the commission cited the airline for three violations, charging $7,000 for each: 1) Not having a specific procedure in place for shutting down the machine , 2) Not inspecting that procedure annually to ensure it was followed, 3) Not training employees on those procedures)

FALL from TRAILER Worker hurt in Salinas strawberry field fall (an agricultural worker, in his 40s, was unloading equipment was injured and flown to a trauma center after he fell ten to twelve feet off of a trailer – he fell from the trailer which was parked on a paved area in the middle of the field)

AMMONIA Ammonia leak, employee injured (a lab technician at a Medical Center has been slightly injured by inhaling ammonia, caused by a leak of the substance in a laboratory – some 100 students and staff members were evacuated from the area)

CHLORINE Chlorine line breaks, school disrupted (a chlorine leak put a high school on lockdown and sent four people to the hospital – just before 8 a.m. technicians were trying to change a small line on one of the chlorine tanks at the pool at the High School – one classroom with about 15 students was kept inside while the school was on lock-down for about 15 minutes – three life guards and one pool technician were being treated for possible exposure)

What’s New this week @ SAFTENG.net

CAMEO Chemicals mobile site now available

Popcorn Fund Raiser for Scouts and Military

The new “Table 3” in the 2012 DOT ERG

When we claim alarms as “safe guards” in our PHA

TOSHA cites Refinery $63,000 for Fatal Flash Fire (PSM, LOTO, PPE)

2012 Photo of the Week # 37 (Electrical)

EPA Region 10 RMP Newsletter- great resource!

2012 Video of the Week # 37 (WARNING!! Manlift Fatality caught on Tape)

Ammonia Fatality @ Winery

Amuay UCVE Event Aug 25, 2012

Load Center Capacity Calculator

Miller Harness Safety Alert “Miller/Honeywell Official Response”

Process Safety and “Human Factors” (w/ video)