45 incidents & 4 updates (6/16/13)

2013 Fatality Tracker

INDUSTRIAL

LOTO FATALITY Mill Accident Kills Teen In Lavington, BC (a worker, 18, has died after becoming entangled in a conveyor belt at a planer mill – the teen was part of a cleanup crew and died at about 2 a.m. – “We have a group of people that provide the cleanup for the mill and he was part of that crew” – about 20 workers were at the scene – the young man was a casual part-time worker who started at the lumber manufacturing facility in February or March)

FATAL EXPLOSION during TA Worker remains hospitalized after Louisiana plant explosion (accident occurred in a section of the plant that had been shut down for maintenance activity – a piece of equipment called a nitrogen distribution header ruptured during the off-loading of nitrogen from a truck – the accident produced no fire or chemical release and did not pose any threat or hazard to the surrounding area)

MINE FATALITY Worker dies in industrial accident at quarry (a worker, 49, at a quarry died in an industrial accident involving a single vehicle at about 1:30 p.m. – he was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries – he may have been behind the wheel of a tractor when its brakes failed)

FATALITY OSHA investigates Elk Grove factory worker’s death (OSHA is investigating the death of a man, 47, in a factory accident – he died from “multiple crushing injuries and falling heavy objects” after an accident at the flooring, countertop and landscaping facility – no other details)

AMPUTATION from SECURITY GATE MSD worker loses arm in accident (employee, who is in his 50s, gets limb caught in gate, undergoes amputation – he as injured about 6 a.m. as he arrived for work – he had gotten out of his car and was injured as he was trying to get into the main gate at the plant – his arm got caught in the gate – a co-worker found him in his car and called 911 – emergency workers also recovered the severed arm – he was transported by helicopter to a Medical Center where doctors attempted to reattach the arm – their attempts were unsuccessful and his arm was surgically amputated between the elbow and shoulder)

FRONT-END LOADER FATALITY Man dies in Port Alberni as machine rolls at log sort (employee, 46, was injured when the front-loader he was operating rolled on its side, trapping the worker – he eventually died of his injuries – accident occurred at approximately 12: 50 p.m. at a logging sort area – he was using the front-loader to move a large diesel fuel tank – the loader was traveling on the slope portion of a road when it flipped)

FATAL FALL from RIG 1 killed, 1 injured in Magnolia oil rig accident (an incident at a well site has killed one worker, 29, and injured another – worker was reportedly working on the rig when the accident happened – he was pronounced dead at a Medical Center after falling from a rig earlier in the day – status of another man injured is still being withheld at this time)

ELECTROCUTION Worker at Cargill Salt killed Saturday (a superintendent working on a piece of equipment died in an industrial accident – a longtime employee, he was found about 6:30 p.m. – in a preliminary report, the cause of death was electrocution- he was working alone when the accident occurred)

FORKLIFT FATALITY Worker dies in forklift accident at Port of Camden (a worker at the Port has died after he was run over by a forklift – the worker was struck in the morning and suffered multiple traumatic injuries and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later – no other injuries were reported in the accident, which remains under investigation)

SULFURIC ACID BURNS 3 workers suffer burns in accident at Doe Run plant in eastern Missouri (a worker at a smelter is hospitalized after suffering burns at the plant – the workers was one of three inured about 6:35 a.m. – the workers were hurt in a sulfuric acid leak, apparently after one accidentally came in contact with the line and the connection broke apart – one employee was air-lifted to a hospital, one was treated and released at a local hospital, and the third treated at an urgent care center)

FATAL EXPLOSION 2 workers die after explosion at Williams plant in Louisiana (two workers, 47 and 29, have now died from an explosion at a natural gas liquids plant and investigators are still unsure what caused the deadly accident – one employee was an operations supervisor and had worked with the company since 1999 – five workers from the plant are still in the hospital after an explosion rocked the facility – one of those workers is a plant employee and the other four are employees for contractors working on the expansion of the plant – some 77 people were initially injured in the blast but all have been treated and released – a plant operations technician died in the blast – all 839 employees working at the plant at the time are accounted for – the explosion occurred in the plant’s propylene fractionation area and caused a fire that took nearly six hours to extinguish)

PRESSURE TEST EXPLOSION FATALITY Two dead in Dutch North Sea gas platform accident (two people died and one was injured in an accident on a North Sea gas platform – at the time of the incident, the L5A platform, was out of production and depressurized – an accident with a heat exchanger, which exploded while being tested under pressure – the platform has not been evacuated – a high-pressure hose shot loose during maintenance work, killing two workers and injuring a third, who was taken by helicopter to the hospital)

UPDATE FATAL EXPLOSION Worker dies in hospital from injuries suffered in May 7 blast at Eufaula sandblasting plant (a worker, 40, who was injured in a May 7 explosion at a sandblasting plant has died – he died from injuries suffered in the blast – he and another worker were burned in the explosion at the plant – the blast and subsequent fire were caused by a “flash explosion” – the second worker is in good condition)

CONFINED SPACE FLASH FIRE Contractor injured in Gulf station fuel tank explosion in Palmyra (OSHA and several other agencies are investigating an underground gasoline tank explosion at the gas station that resulted in severe burns to a contractor – the explosion happened at 12:35 p.m. while a contractor was cleaning an empty underground fuel tank – they believe a spark caused the blast – the man was described as an independent contractor and was taken to a Hospital)

ARC FLASH in VAULT Underground Explosion Injures 2 Workers, Knocks Out Power To Over 1,700 Edison Customers (two workers were injured when an explosion took place in an underground vault – both workers, who are in their 40′s were subcontractors, suffered burns, one to the back, and the other to the face – they were injured by an arc flash in the vault)

RAIL YARD FATALITY Watco coal worker crushed by freight car in Coffeyville, Kansas (an apparent industrial accident claimed the life of a rail worker – the incident occurred at a coal yard – the worker was run over by a freight car)

Cement worker hurt (a worker at a cement works sustained serious head injuries in a workplace incident – the worker was found injured beside his truck at a silo loading bay – immediate first aid was provided and the worker was taken by ambulance to a Hospital before being airlifted to another Hospital)

HOTWORK FATALITY One dead in OIL pipeline fire (a contractual welder working for a private firm died and another injured in a fire that broke out while welding a leaking crude oil pipeline – the deceased succumbed to 80 percent burn injuries at a private nursing home, while his co-worker is undergoing treatment at a Hospital)

CAR ASSEMBLY FATALITY Employee at Nissan Smyrna Facility Dies in Accident (a worker was killed in the vehicle assembly plant around 1:30 a.m. – details of the incident will likely be released Monday afternoon, after the investigation into the death has been closed – in April of this year another worker died at the plant – in that case, the worker was a contractor)

PET FOOD PLANT FATALITY Friday Morning Accident at Brownwood Pet Food Plant Results in Fatality (worker, 25, died in what appears to have been an industrial accident at the pet food plant at approximately 8:45 a.m. – no official cause of the accident has been determined; however, initial indications are pointing toward an industrial accident, possibly the employee fell into a piece of machinery – worker died at the scene)

RECYCLE PLANT FATALITY Man crushed to death at recycling plant (worker, 24, died from crush injuries – no other details)

FATAL EXPLOSION Dalian explosion (at least four people were killed in a chemical plant explosion – the fire from the explosion, which happened at about 6:40 pm, was put out in half an hour – windows in neighboring buildings were all shattered – the cause of the accident is still under investigation as initial results show that the blast may have been triggered by liquefied gas)

AMMONIA LEAK Shelter in place lifted after reported ammonia leak in Deer Park (a shelter-in-place order was issued for a reported ammonia leak and then soon lifted – the ammonia leak was reported at a food processing company – police also shut down Highway 225 eastbound at the Beltway feeder and overpass as a result – the leak was stopped and officials subsequently re-opened the area, saying there is no danger and never was any danger to the public)

Update: Ammonia Hydroxide Spill Closes Route 309, Two Firefighters Treated (six fire companies and a HAZMAT unit were on scene for an ammonia spill from a leaky drum on a tractor trailer – for more than nine hours Route 309 northbound was affected by an ammonia hydroxide spill from a tractor trailer – two firefighters were also treated for heat exhaustion)

AMMONIA RELEASE via RV Ammonia leak shuts down Cactus meat processing plant (a plant shut down after an ammonia leak in the facility – first and second shifts were canceled after what was said to have been a minor ammonia leak – a safety valve was triggered at this facility causing that ammonia leak – there were no major injuries, however the County Hospital did confirm 11 people were transported from this facility there – all have since treated and released)

AMMONIA Ammonia leak closes Highway 58 in Buttonwillow (Highway 58 was closed for a time and part of the small community was evacuated – the anhydrous ammonia was leaking during a transfer from a 30,000 gallon tank to a 1,000 gallon tank – Hazmat specialist wearing protective gear were able to shut the leak off – highway 58 was reopened just before 3 p.m. after being shut down for two hours and the evacuees were allowed to return to their homes and businesses)

UPDATE on AMMONIA LEAK Egelston Township’s Sun Chemical to pay $65,000 penalty for initially unreported 1,400-pound ammonia leak (company has agreed to pay more than $65,000 in civil penalties for a six-hour, 1,400-pound leak of anhydrous ammonia vapor last Labor Day that wasn’t reported until the next day – the pigment manufacturer has agreed to pay $65,631 to the U.S. Treasury and the Superfund Trust Fund “to resolve the alleged violations of failing to provide immediate notification)

AMMONIA Big anhydrous ammonia leak in Illinois (an anhydrous ammonia leak that went on for 12 hours and released almost 8,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia plus contaminated 100,000 gallons of water – the leak occurred at an ammonia loading rack and was triggered by a Farm Service tanker truck hitting a valve – the contaminated water is the result of local fire fighters spraying water on the discharge to minimize the spread of the NH3 vapors – some runoff water reportedly went into a branch of a Creek which flows into a private pond that killed an undocumented number of fish)

CHLORINE Chlorine leak at plant prompts evacuation (a chlorine leak at a treatment plant prompted an evacuation – hazardous material crews were called to the Water Treatment facility around 12:30 p.m. – a cylinder holding roughly 150 pounds of chlorine leaked within the plant – the area was evacuated and traffic was also re-routed – no reports of any injuries)

CONSTRUCTION

UPDATE Site supervisor fined after Birtley accident (a site supervisor has been fined after a co-worker, 24, was left paralyzed after falling 10m from the roof of a warehouse – temporary employee fell from an unprotected and fragile roof after the supervisor allowed workers, who were removing cement sheets, to go onto it, ignoring his company’s safety policy – worker suffered multiple injuries and has been left paralyzed from the neck down – HSE prosecuted the site supervisor after an investigation into the incident – the 56-year-old pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to a health a safety breach between August 4 and September 5 2011 by failing to properly supervise work at height – he was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £9,765.88 costs)

FATAL COLLAPSE 1 dead in NE China construction site accident (one worker was killed and another was injured in an accident at a subway construction site – a steel structure collapsed around 8:30 p.m., injuring two workers – one of the workers died while en route to the hospital – the other worker is receiving treatment – cause of the accident is under investigation)

CRANE FATALITY Jerseyville Man Killed in Work Accident (a construction worker, 51, has been identified as the victim in an accident at the site of rehab work on a bridge – he died after being struck by a 55-gallon drum as he worked on a barge near the bridge – the drum was being lifted by a crane when it fell on him – Coast Guard were nearby and responded to the scene, but he was pronounced dead near the site of the incident)

LOTO FATALITY in ELEVATOR PIT Fatal Accident Reported At New San Francisco 49ers Stadium (a worker was killed in an elevator shaft at around 6:50 a.m. – it appears the person was working in the bottom of an elevator shaft when another worker “took a car down the shaft” and inadvertently crushed the victim”)

SCAFFOLD RESCUE 2 Scaffold Workers Rescued From Outside 45th Floor (two scaffold maintenance workers who were stranded 500 feet above the streets for nearly two hours after their work platform snapped were rescued by firefighters – the platform, connected to scaffolding, seemed to have snapped in the middle, although it was not immediately clear what had caused it to malfunction – the accident was first reported at 2:39 p.m. and the two were brought to safety around 4:15 p.m. – rescuers cut through a window on the 45th floor, two stories below the roof, in order to reach the workers – the maintenance workers, both men, were wearing harnesses at the time of the accident, and firefighters lowered an extra set of harnesses to them)

ELECTRICAL and FALL from SCAFFOLDING Worker injured on site of Quincy middle school project (a construction worker fell from scaffolding and suffered a head injury after he was shocked by a power line – the injured worker was taken by ambulance to a hospital with non life-threatening injuries – the apparent accident occurred at about 3 p.m. when the worker made contact with a power line, causing to him to fall 6 to 8 feet to a lower level of scaffolding – he sustained a burn on his forearm from the shock and hurt his head on the fall)

DEMO ROOF COLLAPSE Worker Injured During Accident at Demolition Site in Holyoke (a worker at a demolition site was injured just before 11:30 a.m. – a section of a roof was being cut on a building when that piece collapsed onto the employee – he was taken to an area hospital with serious, but not life threatening, injuries)

ELECTROCUTION in MANLIFT OSHA begins investigation after construction fatality (four people hospitalized and a worker, 44, died after a truck came in contact with a power line at a construction site – he was killed after his head touched a high-voltage line – three other workers were hurt and have been released from the hospital – two employees were working at the site when the boom lift came too close to a high-voltage line – two other workers were working the same line about 60 feet away – workers performed CPR but he succumbed to his injury)

WORKZONE FATALITY Erick Meekins, highway worker, killed in Maryland accident (a highway worker, 40, was struck and killed while closing a lane of traffic – he was closing a lane of westbound state Route 216 at night when he was hit – he was wearing a reflective shirt and placing cones in the road when a Chevrolet Malibu struck him – he was pronounced dead on the scene)

TRENCH FLASH FIRE Contractors burned as sewer line ignites in West Melbourne (two men were flown to a Regional Medical Center with serious burns after gas from the sewer line they were working on ignited – a third worker was also involved, but he refused treatment – the men were contractors working on a project – incident happened at about 10 a.m. – they were putting a repair clamp onto the main itself – when they started to remove the clamp, there was some kind of extraneous gas in the area and when they were using a power tool it may have sparked and flashed toward them – the gas was methane and hydrogen sulfide)

FALL thru ROOF Worker falls through roof, injures 12-year-old girl (a 12-year-old girl was injured when a worker fell through the roof of her apartment building just before 11:00 a.m. – the worker, 38, was fixing a leak on the roof of the building – he crashed through injuring 12-year-old who was in the living room watching Saturday morning cartoons – she was taken to the hospital with a concussion and other injuries – the worker was not seriously injured)

HOTWORK Glasgow Hydro fire: Blaze caused by welding sparks (the fire was caused by sparks from welding on the roof causing damage to the roof and smoke damage inside the building – not yet known how much damage was caused by the water used to extinguish the blaze)

MISCELLANEOUS

CRUSHED by COW Worker Crushed To Death By Cows At Dairy Farm (a man, 28, died after being crushed while on the job at a dairy – he was moving cows into a paddock when he was crushed between a gate and a fence by cows around 5 a.m. – he was transported to a Regional Medical Center where he was treated for severe internal injuries – he died in the hospital’s intensive care unit around 4:30 pm surrounded by his family)

FALL from TREE Worker, 50, hurt in 30-foot fall from tree (a tree surgeon, 50, was injured and airlifted by air ambulance to a hospital after sliding 30ft from a tree – he suffered a leg injury in the fall – the man, who was wearing chainsaw protective trousers, managed to hang on to the tree as he fell – he slid 30 feet to the ground and suffered injuries in the fall)

UPDATE on CRANE TIP Operator Charged In Crane Collapse In Stamford Harbor (State Police arrested the man who was operating the crane that collapsed in the Harbor several weeks ago – crane operator, 44, was charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, operating a crane without a license and operating an unregistered crane – he was held on $1,500 bond and was scheduled to appear in court June 28 – he was arrested and at that time was operating a different crane, which was also unregistered – he was operating the crane in the marina on May 22 and attempted to make a lift when it toppled into the water – no one was injured in the accident, but at least one boat in the marina was damaged)

What’s New @ SAFTENG.net

2013 Video of the Week #24 (Crane Snaps)

DHS CFATS Update as of June 6, 2013

2013 Photo of the Week #24 (Grain bin explosion caught on camera)

Compressed Gas Cylinders That Have Not Been Tested Properly

Compliance Tip: Do I need a first aid team?

Human and organizational errors are the major cause of equipment failures in in the process industries

2013 Video of the Week #23 (Excavator accident: Concrete barrier strikes worker)

2013 Photo of the Week #23 (PPE)

Compliance Tip: Projecting shaft ends

WHO AM I? … I AM CARELESSNESS

“Some Mistakes During Electrical Work” (By Jim White, Shermco Industries)

The Safety Poem… As I go to work today

Crane Load Drop at Darlington Unit 13 (photos)

Guide for Safe Use of Isocyanates – An Industrial Hygiene Approach

PART II – Scene Management is a function of IC (20 Ton NH3 Release)

Standpipe Systems: Standpipe Hose Connection Clearance (USFA)

CAL-OSHA PSM Fatality Citations (NH3 Refrigeration)