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2012 Fatality Tracker
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INDUSTRIAL LINEMAN ELECTROCUTION Lineman killed fixing Sandy-damaged lines identified (a worker, 47 was electrocuted while fixing downed power lines – he had worked for the company for four years but had 21 years’ experience as a linesman) GUARDING FATALITY @ MINE Worker killed in accident at Solite (a worker, 30, was killed at 6:53 p.m. – he was operating an industrial drill, boring holes for demolition charges, when he became entangled in the shaft of the machines auger – as a result he sustained severe trauma, succumbing to his injuries at the scene) LOTO/GUARDING FATALITY Worker dies in recycling machine 20 feet up (a man working at a glass recycling plant was killed after becoming ensnared 20-feet up in running machinery – the lower half of the man’s body was reportedly stuck in the machine as it ran) CONFINED SPACE FATALITIES @ WWTP – ONE ENTRANT and FOUR “Would-Be Rescuers” Five workers killed in NCape (five workers of a Municipality were killed at a waste water treatment plant around 12.45pm – one of the workers was cleaning the pump house, about six metres underground, when the accident happened – apparently sludge came out of one of the monitors in the room and filled the room to a height of about 1.5 metres – it was suspected the worker was overcome by methane gas – the other workers tried to help in an attempt to rescue the first worker and they were also overcome by the gas – the recovery of the bodies was nearly completed by 6.30pm) RECYCLING FACILITY Accident injures man at recycling center in Springfield (a large bundle of compacted material blew over or fell over on top of a worker at a recycling center – an ambulance took the worker to a hospital with critical injuries shortly before 3 p.m.) LINEMAN ELECTRICAL New Jersey Utility Worker Injured by Electric Shock (a lineman suffered a severe electric shock while repairing damage from Hurricane Sandy – it immediately caused the company to issue a brief safety stop for its workers – details of the accident were not immediately offered, but the source confirmed the worker was hospitalized, and his vital signs were described as “OK”) OILFIELD Man hurt in oilfield accident near Carlsbad (a worker, 33, on a drilling rig in an oilfield has been injured after a 100-pound metal gate dropped on his head and shoulders – he was working on rig No. 7 when a hoist accidentally lifted the metal gate nearly 20 feet into the air and it fell – he wasn’t aware he was badly hurt and kept working for about a half-hour – he was later flown to a hospital – his injuries weren’t specified) CRUSHING FATALITY Auburn man killed in concrete accident (around 3:30 p.m. a worker, 60, at a concrete facility who had been struck by a large piece of concrete – he had been stacking concrete blocks on a vehicle for transport) HYDROGEN SULFIDE Workers hurt in chemical spill on the mend (two men critically injured after inhaling hydrogen sulfide following a chemical reaction at a leather tanning warehouse remain in hospital but are on the mend – 21 people, including workers, ambulance staff and a firefighter were taken to a Hospital after inhaling hydrogen sulfide – the condition of two male workers, both aged in their early 50s, was considered critical and they were transferred to a larger Hospital – the day after one of the men remains in intensive care in a stable condition – the other man was transferred to a Hospital and is in a stable condition – the cause of the accident appears to be “human error” – it appears sulfuric acid was added incorrectly into a processor and consequently a reaction occurred where hydrogen sulfide was discharged) FATAL ELECTRICAL EXPLOSION Worker killed in explosion days before 50th birthday (worker, 49, suffered a horrific death when a hot oil blower from a bitumen plant exploded in his face – he suffered burns on 100 per cent of his body – he died shortly after 5pm – he was conducting an electrical test on the plant when the blower heated up from an electrical surge – it exploded, pitching burning debris as far as 20 feet away – the blower feeds fuel into the Bitumen tank which heats up to 300 degrees celsius – when the blower exploded, it threw the worker against another tank and he rolled down a hill on the compound where he died immediately) UPDATE on FATAL EXPLOSION Second chemical plant worker dies after explosion (a second chemical plant worker has died following an explosion – they were injured Sept. 24 in an explosion at a chemical plant – the other fatality died two days after the explosion – ten other workers in the plant escaped injury – an investigation into the explosion continues) REFINERY EXPLOSION Fire erupts at PdVSA Cardon refinery in Venezuela (workers at the site shut down the unit shortly after a small explosion caused a fire at the plant – some workers were being evacuated as a precautionary measure) UPDATE on REFINERY EXPLOSION Woods Cross refinery sues 4 companies over 2009 explosion, fire (a refinery has sued four companies, alleging their negligence and breaches of contract led to a massive explosion in 2009 that rocked the crude oil refinery and damaged dozens of nearby homes – lawsuit seeks more than $75 million from four contractors – the explosion at the 10,250-barrel-per-day refinery happened on Nov. 4, 2009 shortly after 9 a.m., when a 10-inch pipe filled with pressurized hydrogen suddenly failed – a resulting fireball and vibrations surged east toward a neighborhood – at least one house was blown off its foundation – no one was hurt, but 10 homes were seriously damaged and nearly 300 homes were affected – one of the contractors sued is an engineering consulting and testing company and allegedly failed to inspect the pipe – one contractor manufactured the pipe, which was attached to a dewaxing unit at the refinery – one contractor allegedly improperly designed and manufactured the pipe and dewaxing unit – that company appears to have gone out of business in 1989 – one contractor allegedly misrepresented the “fitness and integrity” of the dewaxing unit) PROPANE EXPLOSION Official: 7 hurt in Houston-area gas plant blast (an explosion and fire tore through a propane gas plant, injuring seven workers before the blaze was extinguished – helicopters took two of the workers at the plant to hospitals, and the other five were driven to hospitals in ambulances – the explosion happened around noon on the assembly line at a plant, which fills tanks for gas grills – the fire was put out in about 20 minutes and didn’t spread outside the plant) EXPLOSION Blast shakes Belgian chemical plant (an explosion occurred at a chemical plant – all night-shift workers have been evacuated – there have been no reports of victims – the blast can post a threat of toxin contamination – the situation has been evaluated as critical – the blast was reportedly triggered by a flame – the cause of the fire hasn’t been determined yet) AMMONIA Chemical leak shuts down Kellogg Plant (a plant is shut after a chemical leak sent two employees to the hospital around 1:00 AM – crews were able to locate the source of the ammonia leak a few hours later, and all gas has been removed from the lines – third shift employees were sent home, while two others were sent to the hospital as a precaution – it’s unclear what caused the leak) AMMONIA Ammonia gas leak at Fujairah ice factory (a gas leak at an ice processing factory saw the area evacuated – there were no casualties reported due to the leak, which occurred at around 7pm – initial investigations found the leak was due to a build up of dirt inside the pipes) CONSTRUCTION TRENCH Construction worker pinned in wet concrete (a construction worker became pinned in wet concrete after an accident at a construction site – he had to be pulled to safety after the sidewalls of the site shifted and he got trapped – it took firefighters an hour to free the worker) WORKZONE Road worker’s leg crushed in accident in Kirriemuir (a roads worker, 55, has been rushed to hospital after an industrial accident – employee was left with a “shattered” leg after being run over by a tarmac chipper at around noon – the man’s condition was not thought to be life-threatening) UPDATE on FATAL FALL Body recovered from Columbia River bridge accident (deputies have recovered the body of the worker, 40, four weeks after he fell while doing maintenance work on the Lewis and Clark Bridge across the Columbia River – he was working on a platform underneath the mid-point of the bridge when another worker saw him fall about 200 feet into the river on Oct. 7 – investigators do not know how or why safety equipment did not prevent his fall) WORKZONE Car hits five road workers in Belgrade (six persons, five of whom are road workers, were injured in a car accident around 1:00 p.m. – a drunk driver hit the five road workers, who were placing pavement markings – the 23-year-old driver was remanded in custody – three of the workers sustained serious injuries while the other two and a passenger from the car suffered minor injuries in the crash – the worker with the most severe injuries is in the intensive care unit – he was thrown over the bridge railing after the impact) FATAL BRIDGE COLLAPSE Four dead in Slovak bridge collapse (a fourth person has died following the collapse of a road bridge under construction – twelve people were still in hospital following the accident – four workers died and twelve suffered heavy or light injuries – the accident had been caused by the collapse of a supporting frame, the bridge under construction then fell, taking with it workers pouring concrete on top of the bridge and killing or injuring several other people working on the ground) ELECTRICAL Worker dies after being electrocuted at Marks & Spencer store in busy shopping centre (a contractor, 62, has died after being electrocuted) HOTWORK Small construction fire extinguished at the Galleria (a small fire at a mall has been put out around 12:30 p.m. – some construction workers had set fire to some insulation with a blow torch – by the time fire fighters arrived on scene, the fire had been extinguished – there was little to no damage) WORKPLACE VIOLENCE Fresno Chicken Plant Shootings: Three Dead (a man, 42, who worked at a chicken processing plant opened fire on colleagues, killing two and wounding two others before taking his own life – police did not know what prompted the attack, but fellow employees said he did not appear to be himself when he arrived for work – he opened fire a few hours into his shift, moving methodically between three of the victims, putting a handgun against their head or neck before pulling the trigger – the fourth victim, a woman, was shot as she tried to flee the plant – the shooter had an extensive criminal history dating back to the 1990s – officers found him with a gunshot wound to the head) MISCELLANEOUS RUN OVER FATALITY Richardson city worker killed after being run over by a garbage truck (a worker, 59, was killed after he was crushed by a backing up garbage truck – the worker was one of the three people picking up recycling – he fell off the back of the truck while it was backing up – the driver didn’t notice and ran over the worker) CRANE FATALITY Araku film shoot goes awry; 1 killed (a crane helper of a film crew was electrocuted when he came in contact with a live wire during the shooting – another helper of the crane unit was severely injured in the accident – worker was moving the crane as per the camera operator’s instructions – in the process, power cables came in contact with the iron crane – the worker suffered severe shock and died on the spot) Wildlife worker killed by his favorite bear, coworker says (a worker, 24, was cleaning the pen of 8-year old grizzly brothers before the fatal accident – officials ruled the case completely accidental- but he did die from wounds sustained by the bear – his bear spray was still on his belt- not deployed – no physical sign they could see that the highly-trained veteran worker tried to defend himself against any sort of attack) FARM ELECTROCUTION Farm worker killed in power cable accident (a farm worker, 59, was killed after being electrocuted by overhead power cables at about 1.45 p.m. – he was tipping a load from his tanker into the farm when it caught overhead power cables – he was found dead at the scene) LOTO/GUARDING FATALITY on FARM Oxnard man killed by machine at agricultural field (a worker, 30, was killed after he was pulled into a piece of machinery at an agricultural field at about 8 a.m. – the worker got his shirt caught in an auger on the back of a tractor, which was being used to dig post holes along the edge of a field of row crops) CABLE ACCIDENT Alaskan ferry worker hurt in ramp accident at Fairhaven terminal (a ferry worker was injured after a support cable snapped on the passenger loading ramp she was standing on at 3:20 p.m. – she was lowering it into place on the stern of the ship – just as it got parallel with the ground, a cable snapped and the ramp collapsed – some wooden pilings kept it from falling further – she fell a distance of about 20 feet, landing on the damaged ramp) HOTWORK FIRE Fire started by welding sparks at Sterling Marlin’s garage in Tenn. destroys 3 race cars (a fire has destroyed three race cars and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage at a garage owned by a retired NASCAR driver – the fire destroyed his 2,500-square-foot garage and three cars that belonged to his son-in-law – he believed that there was a leak on a propane heater and welding sparks ignited the fire – a shop worker who was inside the garage when the fire stared was treated at the scene for minor injuries – crews had to work to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby buildings and fuel tanks) |
What’s New this week @ SAFTENG.net
Genie Lift Safety Notice (11/5/12) Dangers of Deep Frying your Turkey 11 Serious and 2 willful violations regarding confined spaces The infamous “Process Safety Contractor Safety Study” by the John Gray Institute Phillips 66 Explosion & Fire – Pasadena, TX 1989 Who is the OSHRC and what does the commission do? Recordkeeping…who is the “highest ranking company official working at the establishment”? FREE On-Line OSHA Compliance Tools from OSHA & MSHA 2012 Video of the Week #44 (Hotwork & Drums II) 2012 Photo(s) of the Week # 44 (PSM Human Factors) EPA Region X’s RMP “Managment Plan” Example Hotwork & Tank Truck Explosion II HAZARD ALERT – AMMONIA SAFETY IN WINERIES New versions of CAMEO 2.4 and Tier2 Submit A review of OSHRC PSM Citations following a 32,000 pound release (NH3 Refrigeration) Preliminary fire testing of composite offshore pedestrian gratings New Welding Safety Interactive Guide from Lincoln Electric Perfect example of using the “Elimination/Substitution” in the hierarchy of controls as well as IST MSHA Safety Alert – Winter Ventilation and Barometric Pressure PHMSA Safety Advisory: Unauthorized Marking of Compressed Gas Cylinders OSHA settles PSM citations with refinery ($400,000) 2012 Photo of the Week # 42 (Hotwork Explosion) 2012 Video of the Week #42 (Power of condensing gas & the atm) What is it? (Hint: Common PSM Safe Guard) National Board RV Testing Data OSHA Top 10 Cited Standards in 2012 Change the clocks – Change the batteries The infamous Phoenix FD Toluene Tank PRCS Rescue Fatality
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