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2013 Fatality Tracker
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STORY OF INTEREST Worker’s finger chopped off by sawing machine in horror accident (an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that a time delay safety device, which kept the machine locked until after the blade had stopped moving, had been removed in 2010, after the equipment had first been installed – that meant workers could access the machine’s inner workings, even while the blade was still moving – the company had failed to carry out a proper risk assessment for the machine) INDUSTRIAL FORKLIFT FATALITY Worker crushed at recycling plant (a man, 41, was crushed to death during an accident at a recycling plant at about 3pm – it is understood the man, who was an employee at the plant, was crushed by a forklift as he was loading or offloading fridge freezers and kitchen appliances from a trailer – no one else was injured in the incident) MINE FATALITY Mine worker dies at Endeavour Silver’s Guanacevi mine, Mexico (a worker died at a mine after an underground rock fall near a pump station) GUARDING FATALITY Blade kills worker at sawmill (a man, 23, has died after falling onto a moving saw blade – he slipped and landed on the moving blade – County Coroner pronounced him dead at the scene of the accident) UPDATE on FATAL EXPLOSION HPCL Visakha refinery toll rises to 24 (the toll in the refinery cooling tower accident rose to 24 on Tuesday with one more contract worker succumbing to burn injuries – one of them was a regular employee of the refinery and the rest were contract workers – currently, 9 contract workers are undergoing treatment in three private hospitals) CONFINED SPACE FATALITIES – ONE ENTRANT and FOUR Would-Be Rescuers Five killed in Shanghai factory accident (five people have died and another four were injured while cleaning a sewage pool at a factory – a worker collapsed at about 2:30 p.m. at a food company while cleaning the sewage pool – another eight workers tried to rescue him but also collapsed – five of the workers had died by Tuesday evening – a staff member said they suffered electric shocks while cleaning the pool – a hospital doctor told Xinhua it was likely they suffered from gas poisoning – cause of the accident is under investigation) MANLIFT FATALITY – FALL from LIFT Workers Fall From Lift, One Dead, One in Critical Condition (an accident left one man dead and another critically injured – accident happened just before 4:30 p.m. – a couple of workers fell from a lift about 30-feet in the air while welding a rail bridge – one victim was pronounced dead at the scene – another person is in critical condition) FATAL EXPLOSION Worker killed and colleague critical after Sabah fuel station blast (a worker, 25, was killed and another seriously injured in an explosion as they unloaded fuel drums from a lorry at a fuel station – one worker died on the spot while his colleague, also 25, suffered 85% burns in the incident at a privately-owned fuel station at 8pm) FATAL EXPLOSION @ OIL WELL SITE Worker killed in oil-field explosion south of Bristow (an oil-field worker was killed and his co-worker was injured when a holding tank exploded as they were moving its contents – the men, both in their 20s, were trying to replace an aging 12-by-12-foot oil-field tank when a fire started and the tank exploded – a welding rig was destroyed in the blast, and an oil-field service rig was heavily damaged – investigators weren’t immediately able to determine whether the men had been welding at the time) CONFINED SPACE FATALITY Metrowater worker suffocates to death in Chennai (worker, 27, was attempting to fix a block in a valve chamber at the sewage pumping station – he died of asphyxiation after he entered the valve chamber to fix the blockage – another worker was hospitalized – around 1.15 p.m. the deceased wearing a safety harness but no mask, entered the dry pit to repair the valve but was struck by poisonous gases – he died on the spot – he had descended into a five-feet-deep pit to repair the valve in the 150-mm diameter sewer pipeline – a co-worker and area assistant engineer fished out his body – in the process, the co-worker too was assailed by poisonous gases and was taken to a nearby hospital – over the past 30 months, at least 30 persons have died of asphyxiation while cleaning septic tanks and sewer manholes, across the State) FATAL FALL from RAILCAR Worker dies after falling from rail car in Delta (a man fell to his death from a rail car while on the job – he sustained serious injuries after falling between 18 and 20 feet from the rail car around 9 p.m. – fire crews at the scene said CPR was initiated, but the man died after being transported to hospital – not yet clear why he was on the rail car) REFINERY FLARING No injuries, fire after power outage affects Cheyenne refinery (a power outage caused the refinery to flare an unusually large amount of smoke and fire – workers had to relieve pressure on its units because of the outage – this caused the flames and smoke that could be seen throughout much of the city – there was no fire, explosion or injuries – crews monitored the air quality in the nearby neighborhood also did not detect anything dangerous) UPDATE on FATAL REFINERY EXPLOSION Refinery blast in 2012 was sabotage (a 2012 explosion that killed 42 people at an oil refinery in Venezuela was “sabotage”, accusing political opponents of being responsible – the President cited an international investigation as finding that the incident was the product of “sabotage by desperate actors who believed that a refinery fire would help them win the elections against (late president Hugo) Chavez” – the incident was initially blamed on a gas leak said to have caused the fire and explosion of nine fuel tanks – he claims the opposition used the incident to try to chip away at Chavez’s popularity – the president did not indicate who conducted the latest probe – there have been similar incidents at refineries in Venezuela in recent months, some of which have also been blamed on sabotage) EXPLOSION @ POWER PLANT BRIEF: No injuries in Detroit DTE Energy power plant explosion (no one was injured in an explosion at a power plant – the scene has been declared a Level 2 hazmat situation, but there is no need for residents in the area to evacuate – the explosion happened just before 8:30 p.m.) CYLINDER EXPLOSION Three injured after Co Antrim gas explosion (three people have suffered minor injuries in a gas cylinder explosion at a scrap metal recycling plant – two patients were taken to a Hospital while the third was treated at the scene – blast happened at the recycling plant – it is believed the incident was sparked when a digger crushed a gas cylinder, propelling part of it about 150 yards though the window of a room with three people inside) AMMONIA Gas leak kills 7 in Mehsana cold storage (seven workers died of asphyxia following a massive ammonia leak at a cold storage unit – five others were hospitalized after being rescued – four of these have been rushed to a Hospital in critical condition – rescue teams had to cut the roof and break the side wall to enter the storage facility to reach the workers – the gas leak was triggered by a carton of butter falling on a valve of a pipe that had ammonia – sixty-five workers managed to flee when the leak started – a large quantity of butter and other milk products were destroyed as this was the only cold storage for milk products in the entire district) UPDATE on AMMONIA FATALITIES Irregularities found in deadly ammonia leak accident (a probe into a deadly ammonia leak in a Shanghai factory on has found irregularities, including illegal construction and lack of training, work safety authorities said – a detached pipe cap was blamed as the direct cause of the accident that left 15 people dead and 25 others injured at a Cold Storage unit which is engaged in the import, export, storage, processing and sale of seafood – investigators found that the company illegally built the workshop after completing construction of the plant’s main body, blocking the fire exits – the workshop was designed and constructed by unqualified workers – additionally, the company never provided training to the workers before starting production) AMMONIA 2 Hospitalized In Suspected Ammonia Leak At South Gate Cheese Plant (two people were hospitalized for minor injuries linked to a suspected ammonia leak at a cheese factory – a hazardous materials team arrived on scene shortly after 6:25 a.m. and were working to ensure the leak, believed to be in the plant’s refrigeration system was plugged – two additional people complained of side effects from the leak, but they were not hospitalized – no other details) CONSTRUCTION FATALITY 1 worker killed, 3 injured in apparent construction accident near Sandy (one man was killed and three others were injured while working on a residential construction project – a wooden truss tipped over during installation and knocked a dozen others onto the men – one man died at the scene – another was flown to a Hospital with apparently serious injuries – two others apparently had minor injuries) TUNNEL FATALITY Worker killed at Corrib gas tunnel (a contractor, aged in his 20s, has been killed almost 2km (1.2 miles) underground as he worked on the gas tunnel – he was part of the maintenance support crew employed by the manufacturers of the tunnel-boring machine – he sustained fatal head injuries in the accident just before 9am at the font end of the tunnel 1.8km (1.1 miles) underground – he was pronounced dead at the scene and his body has since been brought to a Hospital for a post-mortem examination) WORKZONE FATALITY A WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY WORKER WAS KILLED WHILE DIRECTING TRAFFIC (a tree cutting service worker was fatally struck as the victim was directing traffic, resulting in his death – after the vehicle struck the victim, it struck a truck – authorities are unsure of the cause of the accident and it remains under investigation) WORKZONE FATALITY Construction worker dies after freak accident on I-45 (he was working on a road-widening project when was hit by a flying piece of metal equipment about 10:45 a.m. – he was rushed to a Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead) Worker’s arm crushed in accident at new Skagit River I-5 bridge span construction (a construction worker’s arm was crushed while working on the new section of the Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River – the worker was walking on a catwalk over the new section of the bridge when a large piece of equipment fell on him) WORKZONE FATALITY w/ TRACK LOADER Worker Dies In U.S. 31 Construction Accident In Grand Haven Township (a man, 25, died in a construction accident at 3:21 p.m. – upon arriving at the scene, emergency workers found him suffering from serious injuries – he was working off the roadway – a co-worker operating a bobcat-style compact track loader tractor had placed the tractor in reverse after leveling some packed gravel for the shoulder and backed up the tractor – it’s unknown how he ended up behind the tractor, but he was hit by the tractor and suffered serious injuries – he was pronounced dead from injuries getting hit by the tractor) MANLIFT Construction accident injures worker on I-225 (workers were putting in a drainage pipe just below some pre-formed, decorative concrete panels – thirteen of them came loose – three of them fell on a worker inside a lift vehicle – the contract worker broke his ankle and got a cut under his eye – it appears 13 of the 10-foot wide by 12- to 16-foot high panels of concrete came loose from the top brackets holding them in place – ten fell backward toward the wall) DUMP TRUCK FATALITY Separate NC accidents involving dump trucks kill 2 (#1 – a construction worker on the site of a Junior High School was pinned under the rear of a dump truck shortly before noon and was pronounced dead at the scene – the accident occurred near the site of another recent construction accident just three weeks ago, when eight workers were injured after scaffolding collapsed at the High School – #2 – a driver was killed on U.S. 221 after a rock came off a dump truck and through the driver’s windshield – the victim was also pronounced dead at the scene) FALL into TANK @ WWTP Worker Injured in Worcester County Industrial Accident (a worker was injured after he fell into a drainage tank at a County Wastewater Treatment plant around 8 a.m. – the victim fell more than 13 feet in the tank, which was empty – workers also said the victim should have been wearing a harness, but his colleagues said he was not) FLOOR COLLAPSE Construction workers injured in Aker Brygge accident (two construction workers were injured when portions of the 7th floor of a commercial building at the complex collapsed – the entire office and retail complex is in the midst of a major renovation project – the two persons injured were found under concrete in the cellar of the building after the accident – both suffered fractures and were taken to hospital – there was a total of 48 construction workers on duty at the time, but none were declared missing – cause of the accident was unclear) BULLDOZER FATALITY Construction worker killed by bulldozer in Piscataway (a construction worker was killed by a bulldozer at a construction site – the investigation into how it occurred is ongoing) HOTWORK Cutting torch sparks small fire at Monticello drive-in (construction crews were using a cutting torch to cut off the marquee on the back screen – sparks from the cutting caused the fire – the fire burned a hole about 4 feet by 8 feet wide – the screen is scheduled to be razed and replaced) HOTWORK No Injuries in Glenview Ave. Fire Tuesday Morning (insulation caught on fire while contractors were using a cutting torch at the commercial property – contractors were using a cutting torch to remove the heating system when the paper-wrapped insulation caught on fire – damage is undetermined at this time – no injuries were reported in the fire) Miscellaneous ELECTROCUTION Worker Dies at Skippack Elementary, Reportedly from Electric Shock (an electrician died after reportedly suffering an electric shock while working at a School District facility – incident occurred around 10 p.m. in the school’s mechanical closet – police said the worker was injured after receiving an electric shock) FATAL FALL Worker falls to his death in Alabama water tower (a painter, 24, plunged to his death while working inside a water tower – he was pronounced dead on the scene – he was climbing the ladder inside the tank that leads to the top when he is believed to have slipped and fell – water inside the tank had been drained for maintenance) |
What’s New @ SAFTENG.net 2013 Video of the Week #36 (Forklift vs. Concrete Dike)
2013 Photo of the Week #36 (Flammable Liquids)
Control Room Management and Human Factors
Pipeline Safety: Notice to Operators of Hazardous Liquid and Natural Gas Pipelines of a Recall on Leak Repair Clamps Due to Defective Seal
Liquefied Natural Gas Safety and Emergency Response Video (PHMSA)
PHAs and the consequences of engineering and administrative controls failing
EPA RMP Citations @ natural gas compressor stations ($93K and Emergency Venting and MI frequencies)
EPA RMP GDC Citations @ NG Plant (Hotwork and $35K)
2013 Photo of the Week #35 (Electrical)
2013 Video of the Week #35 (CATASTROPHIC FAILURE of Tanker Truck)
Chemical Advisory: Safe Storage, Handling, and Management of Ammonium Nitrate
Ammonia Engine/Machinery Rooms and Hazardous Locations is NOT driven by PSM/RMP alone
OSHA issues PSM citations to ice maker (NH3 and $147K)
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