LOCK IT OUT!!! Santa Maria Man Killed in Industrial Accident (a man is dead after a tragic industrial accident - incident happened at an oil company - co-workers of the victim say he was a single father of an 8-year-old child and had worked for the company for several years - officers from the County Sheriff's Department were called to the business just before noon today after reports came in that a man had been struck in the head and decapitated - investigations determined the victim was attempting to change a belt on one of the oil pumping units when the accident occurred - an oil worker was working on one of the oil rigs and somehow got caught up in the machinery there in what appeared to be an industrial accident and he died at the scene)
Workers Injured In Cement Mixer Accident (three workers were injured in an industrial accident at a cement company - men were working when they reportedly got caught in equipment used in making cement - worker didn’t actually fall into the mixer, he was caught in the conveyer belt)
Female worker, 31, killed in accident at factory (a 31-year-old woman has been killed in an industrial accident at a cabinet-making factory - the woman was operating an industrial router when the bit disintegrated and a piece hit her in the chest)
Worker's Arm Cut Off In Concrete Plant Accident (the victim was working when his arm got caught in a machine - the limb was severed from his body - paramedics stabilized the man and recovered his lost arm - fire rescue officials said they rushed him to General Medical Center's trauma center)
WORKER HURT ARM (the worker suffered bruising and a laceration on his arm that required stitches - he was one of two workers hurt at the plant - the other worker suffered a hand injury)
Dimex worker injured on job (a 36-year-old man was injured in an early morning accident - the man became entangled in a piece of equipment - the man’s arm was caught when the rescue squad arrived)
Davidson County briefs: Elevator accident kills one, hurts one (an accident in an elevator shaft of an office building killed one maintenance worker and injured another - worker, 53, was killed when the elevator he was working under fell on him - emergency crews found the two workers trapped under the elevator, which was resting three or four feet above the floor of the shaft - the elevator car was secured by a chain at the third floor while the two men worked below - he was entering the shaft on a ladder when the chain broke - police believe the elevator hit him in the head as it fell)
LOCK IT OUT!!!!! Yakima company fined $10,800 for safety violation in worker death (a fruit company has been fined $10,800 for safety violations in the death of a mechanic who was trying to repair some machinery - company is appealing three $3,600 fines assessed by the Department of Labor and Industries, which said in documents that the company lacked adequate "lock out tag out" procedures on July 20, when Bradley Allen Mayer, 36, was electrocuted while trying to fix the brake on a bin stacking machine - "worker began working on the de-stacker while others on the line were on a break and got a fatal dose of electricity when a co-worker returned from the break and unwittingly "started it up, thinking he was clear)
LOCK IT OUT!!!!! Man dies in accident at midstate plant (worker, 58, one of the plant's original employees, died after getting caught in machinery - the plant was shut down for routine maintenance at the time of the accident, and the worker was caught in machinery while working on it)
UPDATE Clayson Steel (1988) Inc. fined $115,000 for health and safety violation (a worker reached into a "brake press" (a machine used to cut metal into various forms) to retrieve a piece of metal when the machine started - the worker received crushing injuries to four fingers resulting in those fingers having to be amputated - the worker had been hired as a general labourer from an employment agency six days earlier - the day after being hired the worker was put to work on the brake press)
Worker hurt at timber mill (the man was working in the green mill when his left leg became trapped in a machine)
LOCK IT OUT!!!! UPDATE Nova Steel Processing fined $75,000 for health and safety violation (a worker was helping to remove used "cutting heads" (blades) and "spacers" (pieces of steel enabling the cutting heads to be spaced apart at different intervals) on a machine located on a "slitter line" (a production line that cuts rolls of steel to dimensions required by customers) when the worker's foot got caught in a pinch point between a stationary component and a moving component that contained a blade. The force of movement resulted in amputation of the worker's right foot. The component had been activated by a second worker to enable the cutting heads to be removed)
Worker killed during maintenance check in El Paso (an airplane mechanic was killed after he was sucked into a jet's engine while passengers were boarding from the tarmac - the worker was sucked into the right engine of the 737-500 - there had been an earlier problem with the Number 2 engine, so the engine's metal covering was open at the time of the accident)
Worker crushed to death in overnight industrial accident (witnesses heard a large boom and when they went to the back of the business, one of the workers, 26, was stuck in a hydraulic winch - still interviewing witnesses to find out how he got trapped in the machine)
VOSHA investigates Putney Paper accident (employee got her hand caught in between two rolls of a machine - the accident didn't sever the hand, but at a hospital in Boston, it was amputated - no other details)
Hamilton Factory Worker Seriously Injured (the employee suffered serious injuries to his upper body and underwent surgery - accident involved a paper machine - no other injuries - the surgery went well but that the man can expect a long recovery)
PPL worker injured at plant (worker was clearing coal from a feeder at 1 p.m. when he was pushed backward - don't know what the cause of the problem with the coal feeder was - was injured when working with the feeder, which takes coal from outside the plant and sends it into a mill - coal was wet from the weekend rains and workers were trying to break up clumps to get it to move smoothly through the feeder)
Man loses arm - twice (a man who faces the loss of his left arm following a factory accident is to receive almost £1.5million in compensation - 20 years after he lost his other arm in an incident at the same workplace - the worker, 62, had his right arm amputated in 1985 after an accident while he was employed as a foundry worker - he now faces the loss of his other arm after being involved in an accident in 2001 working for the same employer)
Georgetown worker crushed in machine that grabs and hold logs (a worker at a Lumber Mill has died after he was pinned in a machine that grabs and hold logs - the 52-year-old was working on a debarking machine when a pneumatic cylinder crushed him - had worked at the mill about two years - he died of head injuries within seconds)
Millworker loses part of leg (worker states his foot slipped and caught in a box chain drive, tearing off his right leg just below the kneecap - job involves moving cores of peeled wood along a conveyor belt to either a chipper or a hauling truck - he said he shut off the conveyor belt and hopped on one leg up a staircase to the lathe station - there, workers who operate the blade that strips the wood called paramedics and stemmed the blood pouring from his wound - accident followed a complaint in June 2004 and citations for eight safety violations in September 2004 - complaint alleged that dangerous parts of equipment where workers were at risk of catching their limbs were not guarded at the chipper work station and equipment was being operated improperly)
Docs save 6 severed fingers (surgeons have saved factory worker hands after she severed six fingers in a work accident - accident happened two weeks ago at a food processing factory)
Worker, churned inside powerloom machine, saved (woman working with a powerloom who had caught inside a machine accidentally, has been miraculously saved by a timely surgery - twenty five-year-old worker had entangled with the powerloom belt, while she was working on January 4 - before anything could be done, she was dragged into the machine, crushed and swirled twice before being thrown into the pit of the loom)
ZERO ENERGY means ALL ENERGY SOURCES!!!IP Worker Killed By Debarking Machine (an employee was killed when the debarking machine he was working on pinned and crushed him - worker, 52, a maintenance worker at the Lumber Mill who had been with the company for two years, died from head injuries - while electricity to the machine was shut off, the pneumatic cylinder Merritt was working on lowered and trapped him)
UPDATE Dorel Industries Inc. fined $90,000 for health and safety violation (a worker was removing debris from the cutting line of a saw machine that cut and stacked particle board when the worker's hand came in contact with moving cutting blades - the worker's lower left arm and hand were amputated - an investigation found there was no guarding device that prevented the worker from having access to the exposed moving blades)
UPDATE Flooring firm fined for worker accident (a flooring firm has been fined £40,000 for an accident which led to a man being off work for 13 months after his arm was trapped between rollers - worker was injured on December 10 when his fingers and then his arm were dragged into the lip between two rollers on the laminating machine he was operating while he was in the process of feeding a sheet into the rollers)
Worker dies in industrial accident (worker, 44, was working at Joplin Building Material Co. when a pallet loaded with concrete blocks got jammed on a conveyer that stacks the blocks - when he and a co-worker tried to lift the pallet to free the conveyer, it slipped and fell, striking him in the head and arm)
MAN FALLS IN SHREDDER (a worker lost his right arm and left hand when he slipped and fell into an industrial shredder - the father-of-two was said to be stable following emergency surgery - no other details)
LOCK IT OUT!!! UPDATE Companies fined over worker death(two companies have been fined $315,000 each after a worker was crushed to death by machinery at a alumina refinery 18 months ago - a 47-year-old father of eight, died of blunt chest trauma after he fell into machinery during maintenance)
Worker killed at Joplin plant (a pallet of concrete blocks was on a conveyor that became jammed - he and a co-worker tried to elevate the pallet to free the conveyor, and the pallet slipped and fell on the worker's head)
UPDATE Excell Stamping Inc. fined $60,000 for health and safety violation (a worker was attempting to adjust a part that had been loaded into a punch press machine when the press cycled downwards - the worker's right hand was crushed in a pinch point resulting in the amputation of four fingers)
Accident kills man at LDS facility (a 32-year-old man was killed while working in the printing area - was working near the baler machine in an area of the plant where paper products are bundled for recycling - he somehow got into the machine that was moving the material around - when co-workers saw what happened, they immediately shut off the machine and pulled the man out of the hopper - he had some injuries to his head, chest and upper back)
LOCK IT OUT!!! UPDATE Company fined after death (worker, 34, had reached inside a press to free a blockage when he inadvertently started it up again, leading to his almost instant death - his head and upper body were horrifically crushed beneath a press that applied 630 pounds of pressure per square inch)
UPDATE Injury costs company $35,000 (company was fined $35,000 for an industrial accident in which a worker suffered a severe injury to his left hand - was injured when he fell into moving equipment - suffered lacerations to his tendon, a nerve and an artery, all in his left wrist - the injury resulted in 12% loss of function to his fingers and wrist - he mistakenly engaged the wrong control button of a rotating bore which caused it to increase speed - he was standing on the bore and he became unstable and responded by pushing himself away and leaping, which caused him to fall and injure his hand)
UPDATE Integrated Packaging Films Inc. fined $50,000 for health and safety violation (a worker was standing near a machine used in the production of plastic when the worker's arm became caught in rollers and was drawn into the machine and was injured - a second worker stopped the machine by hitting an emergency stop button - a Ministry of Labour investigation found the machine had no guarding device to prevent access to the rollers' pinch point)
UPDATE Murray Bros. Lumber Company Limited fined $150,000 for health and safety violation (a worker was found deceased in a restricted area underneath an in-feed conveyor belt at a "hog mill" (a building that receives waste material and reduces it in size through a series of conveyor belts, chutes and machines). The worker, a long-time employee, had been working alone in the hog mill and was found by a co-worker entangled in the conveyor's take-up rolls - investigation found the main feed belt switch on the conveyor's control panel was turned to the fast position although it's unknown if this switch was moved after the incident. The fast belt speed is estimated to be about 110 feet per minute. There were no witnesses to the incident, but it is believed the worker removed safety chains inside the conveyor to enter the restricted area in order to clean up or to try to remove something that may have become caught in the conveyor. It was the worker's job to ensure the hog mill's system ran smoothly. The worker's duties included clearing jams and cleaning up sawdust)
UPDATE Union Felt Products Inc. fined $70,000 for health and safety violation (a worker was underneath a "garnet machine" (a machine that takes fibrous material and combines it into layers of padding) when the worker's right hand got caught between two rotating rollers. At the time of the incident the worker was investigating a problem with the processing of material. To access the garnet machine the worker had opened a door to a protective, surrounding fence. As a result of the incident, the worker suffered a loss of the right hand at the wrist - investigation determined that prior to the injured worker going under the garnet machine, a supervisor had instructed workers to shut off the garnet machine so maintenance staff could be called. However, inertia caused the rollers to continue rotating for a period of time. The ministry also found a written lockout procedure for the garnet machine did not address the moving machinery caused by inertia. The injured worker had been trained in the company's lockout procedure. In addition, electronic interlocks on the fence's access doors were designed to shut down the garnet machine when a door was opened, but, after the power was interrupted, the rollers continued to rotate for some time.)
Worker's hand crushed in Nhill (the 47-year-old man's hand was caught in a cutting machine at a duck processing facility - was trapped for more than an hour and his hand has been severely injured)
MAN LOSES THREE LIMBS IN SHREDDER ACCIDENT (a refuse worker is in a critical condition at a Hospital after he lost both legs and an arm in an industrial tree shredder - the 48-year-old man was caught in the shredder at the refuse transfer station for about an hour and a half before being freed by rescue workers - it is unclear how the accident happened)
UPDATE Mutilated worker's family hits out (a man dismembered in a tree shredder last week was ordered to work on the machine that day after refusing because it was faulty, staff have told his family - the 48-year old was in a serious but stable condition after losing both his legs above his knees and his left arm below the elbow in the accident - the woman, who declined to be named, said it was sometimes necessary to get into the shredder to unblock it. Initially, she did so while the machine was operating but was told later to enter it only when it was switched off)
UPDATE Burlington Technologies Inc. fined $125,000 for Health and Safety violation (a worker entered an access gate on a "die-casting machine" (a machine that produces metal forms for automotive parts) to see if the machine's "launder" (a device through which molten material passes) had become clogged when the worker was struck by a "ladle" (a scooping device) containing molten metal. The worker was able to duck to avoid being pinned between the ladle and launder, but the worker's shirt caught on fire. The worker received second and third degree burns to the back - investigation found an "interlock safety switch" (an electronic device) on the access gate was broken. If functioning, the switch would have automatically shut down the machine when the gate was opened in order to prevent the worker from coming in contact with moving parts on the die-casting machine)
Man crushed by baler; Recycling center employee flown to San Jose trauma unit By KEVIN HOWE A worker at a Monterey recycling center was taken by helicopter to San Jose after his chest was crushed in a baling machine Friday morning. Juan Ortega, 27, was flown by Cal-Star helicopter to San Jose Medical Center's trauma unit shortly before 10 a.m., according to Monterey Fire Division Chief Mike Ventimiglia. Because of patient confidentiality rules, the medical center would not disclose his condition late Friday, but one of his supervisors said he is expected to survive. Ortega was working with other employees of Monterey City Disposal Service Inc. at its recycling plant on Ryan Ranch Road, servicing a baling machine, equipment that includes a large steel cylinder. The cylinder rolled and pinned him against the machine, and part of the cylinder pierced his chest, Ventimiglia said. Workers at the plant helped firefighters move Ortega to an ambulance. Firefighters and paramedics determined that his injuries were so serious that he needed to be flown to a trauma center rather than driven to a local hospital. To create a landing zone for the helicopter, cars were cleared from the nearby CTB/McGraw-Hill parking lot. Ortega was flown to San Jose Medical Center, where hospital authorities reported he was admitted to its intensive care unit. "We're not sure how it happened," said Tom Parola, operations supervisor at the plant. The hydraulically powered machine is being disassembled in an attempt to determine exactly what caused the accident, Parola said. Tentatively, he said, it appeared the machine jammed on a piece of steel not normally run through the recycling process. The worker who was with Ortega when the mishap occurred, Parola said, accompanied him to the hospital. Ortega's family had been notified and was en route to San Jose on Friday afternoon, Parola said, adding that Ortega is expected to recover. Monterey Disposal is a private contractor with an exclusive franchise for collecting and processing solid waste in Monterey, and it operates its Ryan Ranch Road recycling plant on land it leases from the city.
Worker dies at steel plant A worker at a south Wales steel plant has died after becoming trapped in a piece of machinery. The 54-year-old man died at the Alpha Steel plant in Newport on Saturday while he was carrying out maintenance tasks. The Health and Safety Executive has launched an investigation into the death. A spokesman for Gwent Police said: "A male person got trapped in machinery below the waist. "Police, paramedics and the fire service attended but unfortunately the man died at the scene. "It appears he was carrying out maintenance work at the premises involving a roller which formed part of the machinery." In 1997, two employees of the steel company were injured in a series of explosions when a burst pipe poured water onto molten metal in an electric arc furnace.
Worker dies in accident at Deming chile processing factory Last Update: 08/21/2003 12:50:21 PM By: Associated Press (Deming-AP) -- A worker died of head injuries he suffered when he was caught in some machinery at a chile processing factory in Deming. The Luna County Sheriff’s Department says 64-year-old Juan Cordero of Cauahtemoc, Mexico, died Monday at the Border Foods factory. Medical investigator Karl Bennett has labeled the death an industrial accident. The sheriff’s department says Cordero was helping clean around a chili hopper when the hopper was lowered. Authorities say Cordero’s head was caught between the hopper bottom plate and a hydraulic pump.
Worker at Lunenburg steel framing plant said to be 'fine' after industrial accident By Megan Blaney Thursday, August 21, 2003 - LUNENBURG -- A worker at a steel framing plant on Summer Street was flown to a trauma center after suffering an industrial accident on Wednesday afternoon. "He was struck and caught between a roll of steel and a piece of machinery," said Lt. Jim Ricci of the Lunenburg Fire Department. Emergency workers said the Dietrich Industries worker was taken by LifeFlight helicopter from the launch pad at HealthAlliance Hospital/Leominster to the trauma center at UMass-Worcester. Apart from that, no other information was released on the Dietrich Industries worker. "Under the new regulations, we can't say anything about the patient," said Lt. Scott Dillon of the Lunenburg Fire Department, who was one of the emergency responders to the accident. "He was released, and he is fine," said Doug Barber, a representative at the Lunenburg Dietrich Industries plant. "He's fine, and that's all I care about." Barber declined to comment further on the accident. The Lunenburg plant is one of more than 20 facilities across the country operated by the Pittsburgh-based steel framing company, according to national accounts manager Brian Kutchma. The Dietrich plants manufacture metal studs, which Kutchma said function like a galvanized steel version of a traditional 2-by-4 wood beam, are used in commercial constructions such as the Sun Microsystems campus in Burlington and the UMass Medical Center in Worcester. At the Summer Street plant, Kutchma said, employees start with a large coil of metal and manufacture C-shaped metal studs of various sizes.
South Georgia man dies in work related accident August 20, 2003 Bainbridge - 33 year old Don Hudson of Attapulgus worked at Elberta Crate and Box company for nearly ten years. On Tuesday, he got caught in a wood chipping machine. His arm was amputated and his head cut. He later died at a Dothan hospital. Those who knew him best say Don Hudson was a generous man. Cousin Andre' Carter says Don Hudson was more than just a cousin, he was a friend. "If there was anything you ever needed, you could go to him, and he would give it to you," says Carter. But at a time when they most wanted to return the favor, there was nothing family and friends could do. Hudson was working on a wood chipper when the fan sucked him in, amputating his arm and cutting his head. Hudson was airlifted to the South Eastern Medical Hospital in Dothan Alabama where he later died. Owner of Elberta Crate and Box company, Ramsey Simmons, would not comment on the incident, but S.T. Dowdell says Hudson was a good man and a hard worker, he knows, because Hudson used to work for him. Funeral services will be held at 10 AM on Saturday at Saint Paul's church in Attapulgus.
UPDATE Failure to Maintain Safety Devices, Procedures Leads to $136,350 Fine for Watertown, Wis. Employer Amputation result of company's careless approach to worker safety, Labor Secretary says MADISON, WIS. -- A Watertown, Wis. company is facing $136,350 in fines proposed by the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) following a February 2003 accident in which an employee suffered the amputation of his lower left arm while reaching into potentially activated machinery to retrieve a piece of scrap metal. An OSHA investigation into the accident revealed that Fisher Barton, Inc., a company that manufactures lawn mower blades and other heat-treated stampings a metals, failed to properly repair a hot trimming press used in a steel forge to trim hot metal after a safety device designed to prevent accidental energizing of the trimming press was broken and removed in the spring of 2002. The safety device was never replaced. OSHA also charged the company with failing to provide adequate training in lockout/tagout procedures, a lack of machine guarding, and failure to maintain forge shop equipment in a safe operating condition as well as not locking out, stopping or blocking the operation of the hot trimming press during servicing or maintenance. "Fisher Barton, Inc., was fully aware of this terrible hazard, but failed to take appropriate steps to protect workers," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "OSHA's first commitment is to protect workers from such tragedies. We stand ready to assist employers of all sizes to make their workplace safe, but we will fully enforce standards when employers take a careless approach to workplace safety and health." A division of Accurate Specialties, Inc., Waukesha, Wis., Fisher Barton employees 165 workers at the Watertown facility located at 1109 Falcon Ct., Watertown, where the accident occurred. Fisher Barton has two plants in Watertown and one in Fountain Inn, South Carolina. Two earlier inspections of the Watertown plants in 1995 and 1993 resulted in violations uncovered by OSHA for machine guarding, lack of personal protective equipment, and lockout/tagout issues. According to OSHA Area Director Kimberly Stille, Madison, the company has 15 working days from receipt of the citations to appeal before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. OSHA is dedicated to saving lives, preventing injuries and illnesses and protecting America's workers. Safety and health add value to business, the workplace and life. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.
Man injured at General Mills An employee at the Wellston plant of General Mills, on Route 327 near Wellston was injured Sunday morning as he was cleaning a piece of equipment. “We did have an injury to an employee early Sunday morning while cleaning a piece of equipment,” said General Mills Vice President of Corporate Communication Tom Forsythe. “The family has asked us not to discuss the nature of his injuries or his condition and we intend to honor their request,” Forsythe said. Forsythe declined to comment on any details of the accident, due to the company’s pledge to the privacy of the family.
Man injured at Shawano lumber plant By Joe Vandel, Leader Reporter A Shawano man is recovering at a Fox Valley hospital after he was seriously injured Thursday morning in an accident while working at Sorenson Lumber Company. The injured man, who was identified as Jeff Melcher, 40, was transported by Theda Star helicopter to Theda Clark Regional Medical Center in Neenah after it took nearly an hour for emergency personnel to extricate Melcher from an edging machine. A Theda Clark spokesman Thursday afternoon said Melcher was in fair condition (and was not in the intensive care unit). Capt. Jeff Zimmerman of the Shawano Area Fire Department, described Melcher's injuries as "very serious" leg and foot injuries.
Mother of two dies in meat grinder Av: Hanne Dankertsen 05. aug 09:42 A Swedish woman died last weekend after falling into a meat grinder with her 31-year-old daughter witnessing the accident. «I don's understand how this could happen, it is just so horrible», the daughter told Swedish newspaper Expressen. The mother was running a small factory in Bua, Sweden, along with her daughter. The family business produced and sold mink food, fish flour and dog snacks. On Friday night the mother and daughter were cleaning the plant. Somehow the mother fell down into big container where the giant grinder hit her. We do not know yet exactly how this happened, we just know it was a dreadful accident», said the police. One theory is that a high-pressure hose used to clean the container got stuck in the grinder and pulled the woman down. The mother was already dead as the daughter came to the grinder to check. The place where the mother was standing to clean the container was extremely slippery due to the fish remains. The 47-year-old mother and the 31-year-old daughter took over the business three years ago. The mother worked as a watchwoman before she decided to help her daughter out with the new business. The woman has another daughter aged 25. It is all so unreal and dreadful. We are all feeling really bad», a member of the family told Expressen.
Bakery Employee Loses Four Fingers In Workplace Accident SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. -- An employee for a Seminole County bakery is recovering after a gruesome accident at work. It happened late Monday night at Carmine's Bakery on Country Club Road. The bakery worker lost four fingers on the left hand. It's not clear how the accident happened. A helicopter rushed the worker to the hospital.
Bulls Head man partially severs arm in accident Sunday, July 27, 2003 By KAREN O'SHEA ADVANCE STAFF WRITER A Bulls Head man partially severed his arm while using a circular saw at home yesterday. Neighbors heard Carmine Mazza, 42, of Goller Place, cry out for help around 9:20 a.m. after the lower part of his left arm was partially amputated in an accident that occurred during a home improvement project, police said. He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan where doctors worked on reattaching his arm, said Police Department Spokeswoman Carmen Melendez. A hospital spokesman said Mazza was in stable condition yesterday. "When I heard him scream, I knew something real bad had happened," said a shaken next-door neighbor, Valerie Lopiano. Mazza often works on his house or helps other homeowners on the block, neighbors said. He lives with his wife and two young sons in a semi-attached house near Willowbrook Park. It was unclear what kind of project Mazza was working on yesterday, but neighbor Rosita Benzaken saw him on the deck in his back yard shortly before the accident. "He's a wonderful neighbor," she said yesterday. "He will help anybody. If you need him, he's there," added Mrs. Lopiano. The two women credited another neighbor, Angie Careccia, with tying Mazza's partially severed arm with towels and keeping ice on his hand until emergency service workers arrived.
UPDATE Stanley Canada Inc. fined $100,000 for health and safety violation PERTH, ON, July 22 /CNW/ - Stanley Canada Inc., carrying on business as Stanley Mechanics Tools, a Burlington-based company that operates a plant in Smiths Falls, Ont. where tool boxes and tool chests are manufactured, was fined $100,000 on July 15, 2003 for a violation of the occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in serious hand injuries to an employee. On January 15, 2002, a press set-up operator was making adjustments to a press and had switched off the motor when the press unexpectedly cycled and closed on the worker's left hand. The worker was taken to a local hospital and then transferred to Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus. The worker lost part of the hand. A Ministry of Labour investigation found the press was not stopped and blocked to prevent movement prior to the adjustments being made. The incident occurred at Stanley Canada Inc.'s plant on Lorne Street in Smiths Falls. Stanley Canada Inc. pleaded guilty, as an employer, to failing to ensure that motion that may endanger a worker was stopped and blocked to prevent subsequent movement before adjustments were made to the back stops in the die area of the press, as required by Section 75 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. This was contrary to Section 25(1)(c) of the act. The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Rene Proulx of the Ontario Court of Justice in Perth. In addition, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.
Worker Killed In Early Morning Accident MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. -- An industrial accident early this morning killed a worker in a Miami-Dade County factory. Police say Julio Herrera, 60, was loading aluminum pipes in a machine at the Pan American Medical Medal Product Company at 17401 N.W. 2nd Ave. when a piece of aluminum fired out the machine, hitting Herrera, causing him to bleed to death. Herrera's son, John (pictured), blames faulty equipment for his father's death. "He knew what he was doing in all his years. He never had one accident, but now he's going to have an accident? I mean something obviously went wrong with the machinery," he said. The plant's manager, Munsoor Ahmad, disputes that claim. "We never have accident here. This is the first time. I've been working here 13 years," Ahmad said. Miami-Dade County police are checking to see if the equipment Herrera was using was operating properly.
UPDATE £7,000 fine for safety breach A FIRM has been fined £7,000 after a worker had part of his finger ripped off in the second gruesome accident involving similar machines to blight the company. Lee Parkinson's right index finger was amputated at the knuckle and three others were fractured when he tried to replace a wire pulley in a machine at Bekeart Fencing Ltd in Tinsley. The company, formerly known as Tinsley Wire Ltd, had suffered a similar accident in 1991 when worker Glenn Green damaged fingers while operating a machine. The company was never prosecuted over the matter but was brought to court for the latest incident by the Health and Safety Executive. Sheffield Magistrates Court heard Mr Parkinson, a 31-year-old galvaniser, of Masbrough, Rotherham, was replacing wire on a pulley system in December last year when he felt his right glove being dragged into the machine. He spent two months off work. Health and Safety prosecutor Geoff Clark told the court there were no safety covers on the machine. The company had originally installed safety caps but had removed them months before the incident because they were deemed hazardous. Mr Clark told the court: "These machines should not have been taken into action without the guards. "The machines ran for a year with the majority of guide pulleys only being adequately guarded for a period of two months." The freak accident was made even more unusual because the company is a member of the Wire and Wire Rope Employers Association which has worked towards improving safety at work. A company spokesperson, Mr Kimblin, told the court the accident happened not because they didn't care about health and safety but because they had not acted quickly enough to install the guards. Mr Kimblin said: "The company has spent a lot of money on the guards but suffered technical setbacks and admits it should have accelerated the process. We have always taken health and safety very seriously but in this incident we should have addressed the matter more speedily." Bekeart Fencing admitted one charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. They were fined and ordered to pay £900 costs.
Factory belt kills man by Pilirani Semu-Banda, 24 July 2003 - 08:24:22 A man working for a lime company called P and M at Zalewa, Blantyre died on Tuesday afternoon after being injured by company machinery which severed his head. Another man who called from Zalewa said Gift Walidi, aged 24, was injured after a belt for a mill cut off his head while producing lime. "This incident happened around 7AM. It was a terrible sight to see a man’s head dangling from his neck,” said the man.He said the man was still breathing as he was being taken to hospital. An officer in the police public relations office Kelvin Maigwa confirmed the incident in an interview, saying Walidi died six hours later at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital following the accident. “I understand the machinery fell on him and injured him,” said Maigwa. He said Walidi hailed from Masinde Village, TA Chigalu, Blantyre.
UPDATE Firm fined £3,000 over worker's injury By Dan Slee Jul 18, 2003, 13:34:00 A Black Country company has been fined £3,000 and ordered to pay compensation to a worker injured operating machinery. The man received cuts and burns after equipment cut into his clothing at the Solid Swivel Co, Portersfield Road, Cradley Heath. Warley magistrates ordered the company to pay £660 costs and pay the injured worker £200 after he was unable to work for a week. Graham Perry, joint company managing director, admitted a single breach of the protection and proper use of machinery regulations. He said: "We are a very long established firm and in 94 years this is the first time we have been prosecuted. "We've have had the latest guards fitted and it appears one was taken off to allow the worker to see any potential hazards as he operated the machine. "This was the wrong thing to do and it should never have happened." Gareth Langston, prosecuting, said the company, which has 40 workers, was prosecuted after the accident on April 22 this year. He said: "The machinery caught a sleeve and caused cuts and burns to an arm. Fortunately this was not more severe as it could have been a glove which had got caught and it would have ended with a finger being cut off." The company makes swivels which can be fitted to the ends of chains and are used in a variety of ways by industry. Car makers Rolls Royce and Jaguar are among their customers.
UPDATE State fines IBP plant for safety By the Union-Bulletin and AP A man's arm was amputated in the plant's mechanical scissors. The company plans to contest the fines. Tyson Fresh Meats' IBP processing plant at Wallula has been fined $61,500 for safety violations after an employee's arm was amputated by a cutting machine. The employee, Luis Madrigal of Pasco, was operating the mechanical scissors, a machine commonly used in the industry to chop the feet off cattle, Jan. 2, when his right arm went into it. The bone and most of the flesh was severed. Doctors were not able to reattach it. Results of the state Department of Labor and Industries' six-month investigation into the accident were made public Monday. The department fined Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. for altering the position of control handles, moving them closer to the point of operation than recommended by the manufacturer, ``creating an amputation hazard.' It also found the company had removed the safety guards from meat-cutting machines at the plant, Department of Labor and Industries spokeswoman Elaine Fischer said. Tyson Fresh Meats, formerly IBP Inc., was fined $55,000 for a ``willful' violation of safety rules for the five cutting machines, according to the citation documents. A willful violation is one in which the employer has intentionally violated safety rules or done so with plain indifference to worker safety, Fischer said. ``Any time we issue a willful violation, it's serious,' she said. The maximum fine for a willful violation is $70,000 and is based on the size of the company, she said. The company has 15 business days to appeal. Tyson Foods Inc., which owns Tyson Fresh Meats, said in a news release that the company planned to contest the citations. An internal company investigation showed the machines' guard mechanisms were in place and operating, the statement said. ``We take the safety of our people very seriously,' said Ed Nicholson, spokesman for Tyson Foods Inc. in Springdale, Ark. Other citations included a $5,500 fine for a ``serious' violation for failing to establish formal written procedures for operators of the cutting machines Madrigal was using, and not addressing potential hazards of control handles, according to L&I documents. Another $1,000 fine was levied for failing to provide safety training for another type of machine at the plant. The company also received a citation, but no fine, for failing to include a union representative in its preliminary accident investigation. Madrigal, 22, referred questions to his attorney, Bill Rutzick of Seattle, who said he had not had a chance to review the citations and could not comment on them. The Wallula plant has remedied all the safety violations since Madrigal's accident, Fischer said.
Man dies in gelatin factory accident July 10, 2003 — A 43-year-old man is dead after getting caught up in a machine at a gelatin factory in south suburban Chicago. The Cook County medical examiner says the victim was Roland Robley of Highland, Indiana. Robley was cleaning a machine at Dynagel Incorporated in Calumet City last night when a co-worker accidentally turned it on. A medical examiner's spokesman says Robley was decapitated. Authorities are investigating the accident.
UPDATE 912189 Ontario Inc. fined $49,500 for health and safety violation FORT FRANCES, ON, July 3 /CNW/ - 912189 Ontario Inc., carrying on business as Koeneman Lumber, a logging company with a sawmill in Rainy River, Ont., was fined a total of $49,500 on June 27, 2003 for five violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. On December 11, 2001, a worker was reaching into the cutting area of a chop saw to remove a piece of wood when the worker's right thumb and tip of the right index finger were chopped off. The saw had been activated when the worker inadvertently stepped on an uncovered, unguarded foot switch. A Ministry of Labour investigation found the employer had failed to ensure the employee, along with other workers, used proper procedures for locking out the control switches when the starting of the machine could endanger them. The worker had been on the job for seven days. The incident occurred at Koeneman Lumber's sawmill at Atwood Avenue and Highway 11 in Rainy River. 912189 Ontario Inc. pleaded guilty, as an employer, to: 1. Failing to ensure control switches or other control mechanisms of a copy saw were locked out when the starting of a machine could endanger a worker's safety. This was contrary to Section 76 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments and Section 25(1)(c) of the act; 2. Failing to ensure that a pinch point in a chain drive on the roller infeed in the west side yard of the sawmill was guarded. This was contrary to Section 25 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments and Section 25(1)(c) of the act; 3. Failing to comply with an inspector's orders. This was contrary to Section 66(1)(b) of the act; 4. Failing to ensure workers wore proper head protection. This was contrary to Section 80 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments and Section 25(1)(d) of the act; and 5. Failing to ensure only workers over the age of 15 were employed at the sawmill. This was contrary to Section 4(1)(d) of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments and Section 25(2)(f) of the act. Justice of the Peace Pat Clysdale, of the Ontario Court of Justice in Fort Frances, fined the company $20,000 on the first count, $5,000 on the second count, $12,000 on the third count, $2,500 on the fourth count and $10,000 on the fifth count. In addition, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.
Motorized saw nearly severs worker's hand BALDWIN PARK -- A 26-year-old Baldwin Park man had his hand nearly severed when someone turned on a motorized saw as he was working on it, a firefighter said. ‘‘He'll live,'' said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Don Edwards. ‘‘And they may be able to reattach his hand.'' The man, whose name was not available, was working about 4:30 p.m. at a bench in a small industrial business at 1453 N. Virginia Ave. in Baldwin Park. When someone turned on the electricity, the saw started and sliced into his wrist, nearly separating it, Edwards said. The man was flown to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center where doctors worked to reattach the hand.
Arm crushed in rolling machine 30jun03 A WORKER had his arm crushed in a rolling machine at a drum flattening plant in Melbourne's north today. The man, aged in his early 30s, suffered multiple fractures to his right arm when it was caught in the machine at a Campbellfield factory about 10.40am (AEST), an ambulance spokesman said. Paramedics treated him on site before taking him to Royal Melbourne Hospital. He remains in a serious condition. The rolling machine involved in the accident is used to flatten 200-litre steel drums.
UPDATE PUC employee dies in tragic accident; Police rule out foul play By David Ryan, Staff Writer The family of a man who died when he fell into a trash compactor at Pacific Union College mourned their loss on Tuesday, burying the body of Nelson Armando Rivera in St. Helena Cemetery. Rivera, 39, of Angwin, fell into PUC’s trash compactor pit on June 16 shortly after noon, Sheriff’s Capt. Mike Loughran said. The compactor was about the size of a dumpster on a garbage truck. The county coroner determined Rivera died of asphyxia and internal traumatic injuries. Foul play was ruled out. “We estimate he was in there for no more than 35 to 45 minutes,” Loughran said. The Department of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating the matter. Dean Fryer, a spokesman for DOSH, said state investigators would focus on the equipment Rivera used and whether he was properly trained to use it. The investigation could take from two to three months, he said, but by law it must be finished in six. Fryer said Rivera was last seen by employees around 10 a.m. the morning of the accident. When his coworkers went to lunch, they assumed Rivera was at lunch, too. But Fryer said one employee spotted Rivera’s car in the parking lot, and turned back to try to find Rivera. The employee discovered the compactor was jammed in the closed position. When maintenance workers arrived and opened the compactor, Rivera’s body was inside. PUC spokesperson Michelle Rai said Rivera’s job included hauling trash to the college’s compactor area on a bobcat, but sometimes Rivera would push the trash in the pit with a broom. Loughran said Rivera’s mother told the Sheriff’s department her son had fallen into the compactor two weeks before. According to a statement from Rivera’s family, he leaves behind his wife Ana, whom he married a year ago February. On Thursday, the college held a meeting for employees and Rivera’s coworkers who had questions about the incident or needed support. Rivera was born in El Salvador, but moved to California as a teenager. He graduated from Pasadena High School in 1983. Family members said he loved outdoor activities with his father. Rai said Rivera started working for PUC’s Plant Services department in 1996.
UPDATE Charges laid in accident at tire plant: woman caught in cutting machine GRANTON, N.S. (CP) - Michelin and a contracted cleaning company face health and safety charges after an accident at the Granton, Nova Scotia tire plant last January. Melissa Aiken, an employee with Dave's Commercial Cleaning, required plastic surgery after she got caught in a cutting machine. Michelin is charged with failing to provide adequate training on the cutter lesson plan and with failing to ensure an adequate safeguard was installed on the machine. Dave's Cleaning is charged with failing to provide necessary information, training and supervision. Both companies have pleaded not guilty. Michelin goes to trial November 12th to 14th, while Dave's Cleaning will go to trial over three days beginning next January.
Probe launched into industrial accident An investigation is underway into an industrial accident where a man has lost part of his arm at a factory at Kemblawarra, south of Wollongong. The ambulance service says the 40-year-old man's right arm was severed below his elbow when it became caught in a conveyor belt at the Shellharbour Road factory about 3:00am AEST today. He was treated by paramedics and was taken to Wollongong Hospital, before being transferred to Sydney's St George Hospital. He was reported to be in a serious condition. WorkCover is investigating.
Landscaper Killed After Legs Get Shredded In Wood Chipper ALLENHURST, N.J. -- A landscaper who kicked a tree branch to force it into a wood chipper was fatally injured when his legs got pulled into the shredder. Monmouth County authorities identified the man as Rigoberto Martinez, 20, of Long Branch, an employee of MJR Tree Service in Long Branch. Martinez was feeding branches into the industrial-size chipper outside a private residence about 10:40 a.m. Saturday when a branch became stuck in the intake chute. Martinez then kicked the branch, and his right foot somehow became caught in the machine, which also pulled in his left leg, authorities said. The homeowner, Victor Towil, called police and first-aiders. Robert Honecker, an assistant county prosecutor, said the chipper had been shut off by the time help arrived, but it was too late to save Martinez.
Worker dies in gruesome KZN farm incident June 17 2003 at 12:45AM By Mbongeni Zondi The labour department is to investigate the death of a farmworker whose body was found with multiple injuries inside a cattle feed mixer at a farm in Bishopstowe, Pietermaritzburg. The farmworker, 26-year-old S'thembiso Gwamanda, was last seen standing behind the mixer while it was being pulled by a tractor to drop off cattle feed at various points on the farm on Sunday morning. The driver of the tractor, Bongani Pakisa, said that he, Gwamanda and another farmworker had just loaded cattle feed into the mixer which was then switched off. While the two rode on the tractor, Gwamanda was hanging on the back of the mixer, invisible to them. He said that this was normal practice. As they drove off and switched on the mixer, the men heard a scream for help, after which they turned the mixer off. But it was too late as Gwamanda had died instantly. Pakisa said that he did not know how or why Gwamanda, who had been employed in the farm for 18 months, ended up inside the mixer. One farmworker, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that Gwamanda had climbed into the mixer to close a latch that had been left open. He said he did not understand why Gwamanda had climbed into the mixer without telling his colleagues and added that the latch could be closed from the outside. Farm owner Chase Edmonds said he expected a full investigation by the department of labour whose officials were due to visit his farm this week. Edmonds said it was the first accident involving the mixer on his farm which has a staff complement of 40. Two workers have lost arms in unrelated accidents on the farm involving other types of machinery in the past few years.
PUC employee killed by trash compactor; Autopsy scheduled today to determine exact cause of death Tuesday, June 17, 2003 By MARSHA DORGAN Register Staff Writer A Pacific Union College employee was killed Monday when he apparently was crushed to death in a trash compactor. Nelson Rivera, 39, was found dead by co-workers at the college's landfill at 12:45 p.m., sheriff's Capt. Mike Loughran said. An autopsy was scheduled for today to determine the exact cause of death, Loughran said. "Pending the results of the autopsy, we are handling the case as an accidental death." The trash compactor is about the size of the dumpster on a garbage truck. Trash from the college is hauled to the site on Highland Springs Road, north of the school. After the trash is dumped, it is raked into a four-foot deep pit. The compactor is equipped with a huge ram that compacts the garbage inside the machine, Loughran said. Rivera's job was to rake the trash into the pit. At this time, it appears Rivera may have fallen into the pit, Loughran said. The compactor automatically cycles, he said. "If he fell into the pit, and the compactor began cycling, he may not have been able to get out of the pit and was crushed to death." Loughran said there were no visible signs of a struggle at the scene or any reason to suggest foul play. "But we will have to wait for autopsy results to rule out foul play," he added. Rivera's co-workers went to look for him, Loughran said. When they got to the trash compactor, the compactor was engaged. When the men released the ram, they found Rivera's body, Loughran said. Michelle Rai, PUC director of public relations said the college is very saddened with Rivera's death. "He has been an employee at the college since 1996. We are just praying for his family and will do whatever we can to help them cope with their loss," she said. Since at this time Rivera's death is being treated as an industrial accident, officials from California Occupational and Health Safety Administration were called to the scene. At this time, the sheriff's department is in charge of the investigation.
Shop accident amputates arm RAPID CITY - A man working in a Rapid City machine shop Monday evening lost part of one arm after getting it caught in a lathe. The 50-year-old victim, whose name was not released, was working in a shop at 312 Wright St. when the accident happened about 5:20 p.m. MG Machining Services operates at that address, according to the phone book. Emergency workers from the Rapid City Department of Fire & Emergency Services responded to the call, working to control bleeding and stabilize the patient until he could be transported to Rapid City Regional Hospital. Battalion Chief Mike Roesler said the man's right arm was severed below the elbow. He did not know if doctors were able to reattach it.
UPDATE Open verdict on death crush man Jun 12 2003 By Sam Matthews THE widow of an engineer crushed to death under a dough mixer he was helping to fix was too devastated to appear in person at the conclusion of an inquest on Friday. Lawyers acting for Sarojini Warnakulsriya, 32, heard the jury return an open verdict into the death of her husband Anton, 43, and said the widow was still too distressed to come to Windsor's Guildhall. Dad of two Mr Warnakulsriya died on January 26 last year from multiple skull fractures after a horrific accident at Montana bakery in Colnbrook when a dough mixer, weighing over two tonnes slid off a fork lift truck. East Berkshire Coroner Peter Bedford, told the jury they had to weigh up contradictory witness statements, which might be either deliberate untruths or genuinely confused recollections of a traumatic event. The inquest heard engineer Sanjay Puni claim earlier in the week it was chief engineer Leroy 'John' Moore, also seriously injured in the accident, who suggested using the forklift to raise the machine. Mr Moore claims two other engineers had a discussion, which he was not a part of, and the fork lift was brought over without his input. Mr Moore also refuted Mr Puni's evidence that he had used the levers to lift the machine an inch or two just seconds before it toppled. Mr Moore said he decided to carry out an investigation of the machine as 'he was under pressure to get answers.' None of the engineers consulted a manual in one of the offices, nor did they check the side of the mixer and forklift where weight panels would have told them the forklift wasn't capable of lifting the mixer. Tragically, Ian Chatterton, an independent engineer reviewing the case, said the £40,000 mixer could not have been fixed quickly as it was a 'unique event', needing a spare part from the Italian manufacturers. The jury were told by Mr Bedford to consider an open verdict if they did not believe the death could be described as an accident. Verdict - Open.
Canyon man loses arm in accident An off-duty Amarillo firefighter came to the aid of an injured city of Canyon employee after the sanitation worker's arm was caught and mangled in a trash-compacting device on Monday. Andy Rahlfs, 41, lost his left arm in the accident, which occurred about 3:30 p.m. Monday in the 7400 block of Hunsley Road in Canyon, said Courtney Sharp, Canyon assistant city manager. Sharp said Rahlfs was part of a crew picking up bulky refuse with a trash-compacting truck and a flatbed truck. Rahlfs was putting items in the compacter when his arm got caught in the mechanism, Sharp said. Amarillo Fire Department firefighter Dewayne Huckaby, who lives on Hunsley Road, was cleaning up flood damage at his house and was helping sanitation workers load carpet on the flatbed truck, Sharp said. Huckaby, whose training also includes emergency medical technician certification, gave Rahlf first aid until an ambulance arrived, Sharp said. The injured man's brother, Dan Rahlfs of Amarillo, said Andy Rahlfs underwent surgery at Northwest Texas Hospital on Monday and was moved from the intensive care unit to a regular room on Tuesday. "His attitude is very good," Dan Rahlfs said. "He is real upbeat." Dan Rahlfs said his brother has lived in Canyon for years but had worked for the city of Amarillo until recently. Sharp said Andy Rahlfs began working for the city of Canyon about a month ago. Sharp said the city is investigating the accident to determine whether the cause was equipment malfunction or operator error.
UPDATE OSHA fines P'burg foundry $130,000 Thursday, June 05, 2003 By ANTHONY SALAMONE The Express-Times PHILLIPSBURG -- Federal regulators Wednesday slapped Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co. with a proposed $130,000 fine for workplace violations that included a December accident in which an employee lost three fingers in a cement mixer. An official of corporate parent McWane Inc. said the company will accept the infractions and pay the full penalty issued by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. "Although we are disappointed that OSHA recommended 12 citations and a substantial fine of $130,000, in the spirit of cooperation, we accept their findings rather than dispute OSHA's determination," said Dennis Charko, McWane's executive vice president. "Atlantic States will continue taking the steps necessary to make our safety programs second to none." The name of the victim was not disclosed Wednesday. The company had 15 working days to contest OSHA's citations and proposed penalty. OSHA is part of the U.S. Department of Labor. A government news release said Atlantic States was cited for 12 violations including six "repeat violations" with a proposed penalty of $117,500. Atlantic States also was charged $12,500 for three serious violations. Three less-serious violations carry no penalty. Several of the violations were unrelated to the cement mixer accident. Atlantic States and McWane, which is based in Birmingham, Ala., have been the subject of media reports that described safety and environmental lapses. Responding to a New York Times/PBS series in January, McWane President G. Ruffner Page Jr. said McWane has improved safety performance at its plants, investing more than $100 million in new equipment. The company has pledged better workplace conditions and improved cooperation with government officials. The statement released Wednesday also said McWane has retained a former top OSHA administrator, Pat Tyson, to review its safety efforts and make recommendations. But officials at neither Atlantic States nor McWane reported the December accident to OSHA, said agency spokeswoman Kate Dugan. It wasn't until the agency received an "informal complaint" from a source she declined to identify that OSHA began an investigation, Dugan said. Atlantic States spokesman Conrad Jarzebowski said the company was not required by law to report the incident -- a point OSHA corroborated -- but cooperated with the agency once the investigation was under way. The statute requires employers to notify OSHA of an industrial accident that leads to a fatality or a "catastrophe," which is when three or more people are hospitalized in an accident. "But we did receive the complaint, and we responded to the complaint," Dugan said. The accident on Dec. 7 occurred when an unidentified worker was helping another employee clean a cement mixer, according to Dugan. The mixer inadvertently started operating, severing three fingers on the worker's right hand. Dugan said Atlantic States failed to follow an OSHA lockout/tagout standard that ensures machines are not turned on accidentally. Several employees leaving the plant which runs several blocks along Sitgreaves Street, declined to comment. Union workers are represented by Local 9404 of the United Steelworkers of America, but union officials could not be reached Wednesday. OSHA's Robert Kulick, who is director of the agency's regional office in Avenel, N.J., said in the news release that the government's investigation revealed the company failed to conduct a periodic review of a government-required lockout/tagout procedure. Other repeat violations were: uncovered floor holes, lack of training for employees exposed to silica and formaldehyde, and infractions surrounding the safe operation standards of forklift trucks. Repeat citations are issued when the company has been cited previously for a substantially similar hazard. An accident involving a forklift operator led to the death in March 2000 of Alfred E. Coxe. The 47-year-old North Whitehall Township man was run over by a forklift operator inside the foundry. Serious safety violations address the company's failure to provide locks or other hardare to isolate energy sources, protect employees from welding rays and splice flexible cords properly. OSHA also issued serious health violations for lack of a sanitary washing facility and hand towels, failure to provide and maintain required personal protective equipment, and wet floors that expose employees to slipping hazards. Serious citations are defined as those where there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer should have known of the hazard. Atlantic States has had more than 140 citations since 1977, according to OSHA's Web site. The last violations occurred in 2000, with the most serious resulting in 11 violations and more than $66,000 in penalties. When OSHA proposed a $135,000 penalty after investigating Coxe's death, McWane wound up paying $10,500 to settle the violations without admitting any fault. Dugan said OSHA is not pursuing Atlantic States and McWane more aggressively than other companies. "If we received a complaint from another company similar to this, it would be handled the exact same way," Dugan said. Atlantic States, Phillipsburg's oldest employer, was founded in 1856 as Warren Foundry and Machine Co., according to the company's Web site. The company employs more than 200 people.
Nucor Identifies Worker Killed at Plant A steel fabrication company in Flowood is investigating the death of a worker killed on the job Sunday. Nucor officials say Douglas Babb, 43, was doing maintenance on a furnace when he was killed in an accident. It happened while he was closing the furnace roof. We're told that Babb was caught between mechanical parts. The exact cause is still under investigation. Babb worked as a millwright for Gatlin corporation, a Brookhaven company that services manufacturing companies like Nucor. The Flowood steel mill employs more than 200 people.
Electric left on; worker killed By APRIL SIMPSON St. Petersburg Times An employee of Thermo-Cool Air Conditioning and Heating was electrocuted Friday morning after incorrectly thinking that circuit breaker wiring was turned off while he installed an air conditioning/heat pump unit at a residence. Jack Petrotto of Leesburg was pronounced dead at 10:48 a.m. He was installing the equipment at 8265 E Turner Camp Road, the Citrus County Sheriff's Office reported. Petrotto's partner, Brian Smith, was standing outside when he heard a pop and a buzzing sound, said sheriff's spokeswoman Gail Tierney. He ran inside to investigate. The homeowner, Henry Wilcox Jr., told him Petrotto, 44, had been electrocuted. Wilcox said he heard a snap and saw Petrotto's leg protruding from the ceiling, Tierney said. According to a sheriff's report, both new and old wiring ran to the new part of the electrical heat pump system. While the new wiring was shut off, the old wiring was not, causing Petrotto to incorrectly think there was no power flowing through the system. The details of the accident were explained by county electrical inspector Sal Trimarca to Deputy Kurt Lynn, who filed the report. Wilcox told deputies he had been told by Petrotto the circuit breaker had been turned off. Wilcox declined comment to a reporter. The body was removed by the Medical Examiner's Office and transported to Leesburg for an autopsy. Gregory Kohler, who knew Petrotto for about a year, was to become Petrotto's father-in-law; his daughter was to marry Petrotto in about a month. Kohler called the accidental death a tragedy. He described Petrotto as a good guy and a hard worker. But above all things, he'll remember Petrotto as a storyteller. "He had a story about a gator, 50 foot long, he caught," Kohler said between chuckles. "Turned out to be 3 foot." Petrotto is survived by his mother and sister, both from New York, and a son and daughter in Kissimmee. Thermo-Cool Air Conditioning and Heating, 201 Miller St. Unit B in Fruitland Park, serves Citrus and surrounding counties, according to advertising on the company's truck. Company officials declined comment on the issue until Monday.
Auburn Industrial Accident Claims Life (Auburn, WANE, June 4, 2003) An Auburn man died early Wednesday in an industrial accident at Eaton Corp.’s Clutch Division on Brandon Street. Thomas P. Hanlon, 56, was operating a press at around 3:30 a.m. when he somehow became caught in the machine, said DeKalb County Coroner Richard Brown. He ruled that Hanlon’s death was caused by severe chest and abdominal injuries. Brown said the accident remains under investigation. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been notified and will send investigators. "At this point, it appears to be accidental," Brown said of the death. "Everyone here is taking this very hard," said Evan Arrowsmith, human resource manager at Eaton in Auburn. He said employee assistance is available to co-workers in coping with the accident. Employees have been given the option of taking the day off with pay if they desire. Arrowsmith said Hanlon was a 16-year employee. The machine on which Hanlon was working and machines like it have been taken out of service at the Auburn plant and other Eaton plants until an investigation can determine how the accident occurred, he said. That investigation will involve the manufacturer of the press, he said. He said Eaton is working closely to assist Hanlon’s family in any way possible.
UPDATE Columbian Chemicals Canada Ltd. fined $150,000 for Health and Safety violation HAMILTON, ON, May 29 /CNW/ - Columbian Chemicals Canada Ltd., a Hamilton manufacturer of "carbon black," an ingredient used in tires and other rubber goods as well as being used as a pigment for inks and plastics, was fined $150,000 on May 27, 2003 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in the death of an employee. Late in the evening of April 28, 2002, a utility operator, who was responsible for ensuring equipment was working properly, was doing maintenance work on a tank, which was in close proximity to a piece of machinery with a slowly rotating shaft. While the worker was working in that area, the shaft caught the back of the worker's coat and continued turning which caused more of the worker's clothing to become entangled. The worker was found shortly after midnight in an unresponsive state and was later pronounced dead due to asphyxia. A Ministry of Labour investigation revealed the surface of the rotating shaft was pitted which would have increased its tendency to catch on loose clothing. In addition, there was no guarding device on the shaft to prevent access to exposed moving parts that could endanger the worker. The incident occurred at the company's plant on Parkdale Avenue North in Hamilton. Columbian Chemicals Canada Ltd. pleaded guilty to failing, as an employer, to ensure that an exposed moving part that may endanger the safety of a worker was equipped with a guard. This was contrary to Section 24 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments and Section 25(1)(c) of the act. The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Barbara Waugh of the Ontario Court of Justice in Hamilton. In addition, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.
Man's foot damaged in machinery May 20, 2003, 15:34:00 A worker suffered serious injuries to his foot after it got caught in machinery at a Staffordshire building components factory. The man was servicing powder transfer machinery when it rotated and trapped him. He was pulled free by a work colleague at Swish Building Products in Tamworth last night. Paramedics were called to the firm, in Mariner, on Lichfield Industrial Estate, shortly after 9.10pm, and the worker was rushed to Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield. Swish Managing Director Ken Simpson said: "He was servicing a powder transfer unit which rotated and trapped his foot. "A colleague grabbed him and helped him free. "It was very quick and very frightening." He added: "We hope he will be out of hospital tomorrow." Staffordshire Ambulance Service spokesman Bob Lee said: "The patient suffered serious injuries to his foot. "He was given extensive pain-killing drugs at the scene and taken to Good Hope where he was in a stable condition." Lichfield and Tamworth firefighters were called out to the factory, which makes parts for roofs, fascias and windows, although the man had already been released from the machinery before they arrived. The Health and Safety Executive said today it had been informed and would be investigating the incident.
UPDATE Canadian Blue Bird Coach Ltd. fined $70,000 for health and safety violation BRANTFORD, ON, May 16 /CNW/ - Canadian Blue Bird Coach Ltd., a Brantford company that assembles and paints school buses, was fined $70,000 on May 13, 2003 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in a head injury to an employee. On June 17, 2002, a bus assembly worker went into an area known as the "old bake oven" to hook up a bus (which was going to be pulled into a bake oven for drying) when the worker noticed the bus was too close to a "barrier arm" (a stop bar in front of the bake oven door that prevented buses from being pushed against the oven door and being damaged). The worker stood between the 49.9-kilogram (110-pound) arm and bus and attempted to push the arm away from the bus, but the arm became caught on the bus. The arm came free when the worker tried to lower it by activating a control switch. The arm struck the worker on the back of the head with considerable force resulting in a head injury. A Ministry of Labour investigation found the worker had not received adequate information and instruction on the hazard of entering the old bake oven while a barrier arm was caught on a bus. The worker had also not received adequate instruction on a safe method of disengaging the arm when it became caught on a bus. The accident occurred at Canadian Blue Bird Coach's plant on Airport Road in Brantford. Canadian Blue Bird Coach Ltd. pleaded guilty to failing, as an employer, to provide information, instruction and supervision to the worker to protect the worker's health and safety. This was contrary to Section 25(2)(a) of the act. The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Barry Quinn of the Ontario Court of Justice in Brantford. In addition, the court imposed a 25-per -cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.
UPDATE EPR Services Inc. fined $70,000 for health and safety violation BRAMPTON, ON, May 13 /CNW/ - EPR Services Inc., a Mississauga-based recycler of old computer parts, was fined $70,000 on May 5, 2003 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in a serious hand injury to a worker. On September 27, 2001, a worker was clearing waste from an air lock on a dust collector when one of his hands came in contact with the air lock's rotating blades. The accident resulted in the worker's left hand being amputated at the wrist. A Ministry of Labour investigation found there was no guarding device on the air lock at the time of the accident even though the equipment had been purchased with a manufacturer's finger guard. The incident occurred at EPR Services' recycling plant on Courtney Park Drive in Mississauga. The worker had been hired from an agency by a company that was doing contract work at the plant. Following a trial, EPR Services Inc. was convicted of the offence of failing, as an employer, to ensure that the dust collector - which had an exposed moving part that could endanger the worker's safety - was equipped with, and guarded by, a guard or other device that prevented access to the moving rotary air lock. This was contrary to Section 25(1)(c) of the act. The fine was imposed by Justice Katherine McLeod of the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton.
UPDATE Geysers victim killed by cooling fan May 13, 2003 By RANDI ROSSMAN THE PRESS DEMOCRAT A man killed in an industrial accident at The Geysers this weekend was identified Monday as a Merced resident who died after being struck by the blades of a large cooling fan. Gregory McVay, 43, was a maintenance worker, under contract with Calpine Corp. at the geothermal facilities near Geyserville, said Sgt. Will Wallman, Sonoma County Coroner's Office. An autopsy Monday showed McVay died of multiple blunt force injuries during Sunday's accident. He was working inside a cooling tower early Sunday afternoon when the fan began rotating. The 30-foot-diameter fan revolves at 150 revolutions per minute. Wallman said a co-worker immediately was aware of the accident and stopped the fan. Why the machinery started is being investigated by the Sheriff's Department and the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Cal-Osha spokesman Dean Fryer said that investigators were at The Geysers on Monday. As well as the cause, they also will review safety records of the company, Fryer said. McVay worked for X-Cell-Marley Construction of Overland Park, Kansas. He'd been working in the area for about two months. Calpine spokesman Bill Highlander said he couldn't comment until he sees a completed accident report.
UPDATE Corus fined £100,000 after worker loses leg May 10 2003 Steve Dubé, The Western Mail - The National Newspaper Of Wales STEEL giant Corus has been fined £100,000 with £10,000 costs after an accident in which a worker lost a leg. Surgeons were forced to amputate 32-year-old Michael Davies's leg eight inches below the knee after his foot got trapped in an automatic train at the Corus steel plant, Port Talbot in February 2001. Corus faced unlimited fines after the company admitted at a previous hearing to three separate breaches of health and safety regulations. Carmarthen Crown Court was told yesterday that Mr Davies, who is married with two children, will return to work as an operator with Corus, with no loss of wages. But Judge Gerald Price said he would have to live with permanent disability. "Any sentence in this kind of case will reflect punishment and a degree of deterrent," he said. "Corus have been before the court on two occasions for breaches of the health and safety regulations, so I cannot consider this in isolation." The court heard that Corus was fined £125,000 in May 1999 and £150,000 in November 2001, after serious-injury accidents at Llanwern. Mr Davies, who lives at Margam, Port Talbot, was under an automatic rubble boom stacker when the accident happened. The automatic carrier runs on tracks but was prone to breaking down when two sensors on its underside be-The court heard that the robot vehicle began moving after Mr Davies had cleaned just one of the sensors and while he was still underneath. John Allchurch, prosecuting on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive, said his fellow workers struggled in vain to stop the carrier. Mr Davies became trapped by his right leg. Corus admitted breaching section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act and regulations 5 (1) and 18 (1) of the provision and use of work equipment rules. Mr Allchurch said inquiries later revealed significant defects in the design of the vehicle's control circuit. But the company had also failed to implement a safe working procedure and to keep the vehicle properly maintained. Defending Corus, barrister Richard Stead said the company was committed to public safety and the breaches were isolated failures in its policy. "It's quite clear that the maintenance field is a dangerous and risky business and the object of Corus is to minimise and manage that risk," said Mr Stead. "The number of employees is not as many as it was, but there are still 3,300 at Port Talbot and 1,500 at Llanwern and in any one week there are 2,000 visitors at both sites. But over the past four years the came dirty. number of incidents has been cut back from 124 to 48." Mr Stead said a risk assessment was in place for the equipment involved in the accident and a safe working procedure had been prepared. Procedures had been reviewed, rewritten and put in place immediately after the accident and personnel changes effected at managerial level. "New power cut-off catches have been installed and this should never happen again," said Mr Stead. "It's inevitable that there will be accidents in an operation of this size and a business of this nature. Human nature and human error being what it is, it's almost inevitable that there will be breaches of regulations." But he argued that the previous convictions should not be considered an indication that Corus had little regard for the law or for health and safety. A Corus spokesman said later the company did not accept that accidents were inevitable. "But we accept that the steel-making process has an inherent risk attached to it," he said. "Our responsibility is to manage that risk." Health and Safety inspector Colin Mew said he hoped the fine would send out a message to employers that breaches of the regulations would be dealt with very seriously. "This breach led to a very unpleasant and serious injury to Mr Davies which he will have to live with for the rest of his life," he said.
Accident kills worker at Kenner factory Friday May 09, 2003 By Stephanie Doster Kenner bureau A Metairie man who tested commercial laundry equipment for Pellerin Milnor Corp. in Kenner was killed Thursday when he was caught in a washing machine belt, officials said. Antonio Cruz, 61, of 716 Blanche St., was examining the equipment when "one of his limbs got caught on one of the belts on the machine," said Capt. Steve Caraway, Kenner police spokesman. Cruz, who had worked for the company for at least 30 years, died at the scene as a result of his injuries at about 8 a.m., Caraway said. An autopsy is scheduled for today. Company spokesman Gary Gauthier said the belt is similar to those under the hood of a car. The industrial washing machine is the type used by hospitals and hotels and, turned on its side, is the size of a car, Caraway said. Gauthier said Cruz worked in the quality assurance department, following a long checklist to test products before they are shipped from the plant. "He was a very experienced employee here," Gauthier said. "We're in the process of speaking to people in that particular department to determine how the accident happened." Cruz was working alone in the manufacturing plant at 700 Jackson St., but other people were in the general area, Gauthier said. Caraway did not know how the machine was turned off. He added that the company is a "well-run operation" and said it "is obvious they are very safety conscious." Gauthier said Cruz's death was the first fatal accident at the plant. "That's very difficult for all of us," he said.
UPDATE Firm fined after worker's finger caught in bandsaw 06 May 2003 A Rotorua company has been fined $4000 after one of its employees lost part of his finger while cleaning a bandsaw. Top Timber Products had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to take all practicable steps to maintain a safe workplace. The director of the company, David Harris, appeared in Rotorua District Court. The company was fined $4000, half of which was to go to the injured worker, Roimata Ngauora .
Accident at MU Power Plant Injues One Stephanie Davis An accident at the university power plant Monday sends a man to the hospital with what are described as life-threatening injuries. The man was working near the arc of a conveyor belt and apparently got his arm caught in the equipment. Fire department rescue crews were advised that the man might need a full or partial amputation. Paramedics, firefighters and other plant workers carried the unidentified man down four flights of stairs and catwalks to an ambulance. An investigation will be conducted by campus facilities and environmental health and safety.
MACHINE WORKER IS KILLED AT PAPER MILL 10:30 - 05 May 2003 A 42-year-old man from Lydney has been crushed to death in a machine at a Forest of Dean paper mill. Dean Thomas was killed while operating a piece of machinery at JR Crompton Ltd in Lydney on Saturday afternoon. Firefighters extricated him from the machine at the mill, which produces packaging for tea bags, but were too late to save his life. His parents, Alex and Margaret Thomas, from Allaston Road in the town, said they were too upset to talk about their son's death. It is understand the mill, situated behind red gates in Church Road, has been closed for the past two days. The Health and Safety Executive, with help from Gloucestershire Constabulary, is now investigating the death. The incident occurred at 2.30pm on Saturday and although one fire crew from Lydney and one rescue appliance from Gloucester helped recover Mr Thomas from the machinery he was already dead. Workers at the mill and residents in the town yesterday expressed their horror at what had happened. Inspector Charles Thompson, from Gloucestershire police, said: "Gloucestershire Constabulary in conjunction with the Health and Safety Executive are investigating an incident which occurred during the afternoon of Saturday May 3 at JR Crompton in Lydney. "An employee of the firm was fatally injured while operating a piece of machinery." Built on a greenfield site in 1965, the Lydney mill is now the largest production unit of specialist paper manufacturer JR Crompton. No one from the mill was available to comment.
UPDATE OSHA proposes $11,625 fine after injury to meatpacker BY RICK RUGGLES WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER The federal government this week proposed levying an $11,625 fine against Nebraska Beef in Omaha for violations found after a worker became entangled in a machine. Ben Bare, area director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said the meatpacking firm has 15 workdays to appeal. Telephone calls to Nebraska Beef, 4501 S. 36th St., were not returned. Sam Jensen, an attorney who does legal work for the company, said through an assistant that he hadn't been consulted on the matter. The worker, Baudelio Gamboa, suffered a broken leg and other injuries when he became trapped in a piece of slaughterhouse machinery March 19. Bare said OSHA found six alleged violations. He said one was tied to the accident, and the others were found in the OSHA inspection afterward. He said the company failed to make sure the machine was "locked out," or rendered inoperable, while the worker performed maintenance on it. The worker then accidentally started it and was caught in the machine. Among other alleged violations, a chain and sprocket weren't completely enclosed to prevent accidental contact by employees.
Ice Plant Injury In Endicott, a man was seriously injured on the job when he became trapped in an ice-making machine. Police say the Majic City Ice Company worker was apparently working on the machine when it started up. They do not know how long he was trapped in the machinery before he was discovered. The victim was rushed to Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City with head, shoulder and leg injuries.
Woman severs arm in mishap at Hendrickson By CAMERON COLLINS The Leaf-Chronicle A worker at Hendrickson Trailer Suspension Systems had her left arm severed below the elbow Sunday in a lathe accident at the plant in the Corporate Business Park. Vickie Gross underwent surgery and is critical but stable at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she was flown by LifeFlight shortly after the 5:55 p.m. incident. Her husband, Edward Gross, works for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office as a jailer. Ted Denny, Sheriff's Office spokesman, said the family has asked for prayers from co-workers. "Our hearts go out to the family," Denny said Monday evening. "He asked that we keep them in our prayers." Hendrickson manufactures air-ride suspension systems and axles for tractor-trailer trucks. Principal customers include Utility Trailer and Great Dane Trailer. "We're conducting a thorough investigation and spending time with the family," said Kirk Steer, Hendrickson's local plant manager since the facility opened five years ago. "We have not been able to see her. Only immediate family members are allowed to see her, but what they're telling us is she doesn't remember what happened." Gross, who has worked at Hendrickson for four years, was working on a manual lathe, one of the smaller ones in the facility, Steer said, when the accident occurred. No one saw it happen, he said. A lathe is a machine used for shaping metal by holding it and turning it against the edge of a cutting or abrading tool. "We've sealed off the area and taken photographs," Steer said. "The plant has been quiet, subdued. Employees are concerned for their fellow employee, because one of what we call the Hendrickson family has been hurt, and we're all affected." Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines do not require an outside investigation in such accidents, Steer said. "It's their option," Steer said about whether OSHA or TOSHA, the state agency that regulates workplace safety, would investigate. "It's really hard to say at this point." Since April 2002, the company has employed about 250 workers. The $20 million, 180,000-square-foot plant opened in February 1998 in the Clarksville-Montgomery County Corporate Business Park. Steer said the company vigorously promotes safety by paying close attention to detail, training new workers and involving employees in continuous methods for improvement. "It's a total culture," he said. "We talk to our workers about how we design our workplace with safety at the top of the list. With manual lathes, there's the normal manufacturing type of guards but nothing really unique."
Severed Arm The arm of a 22-year-old man was severed between his shoulder and elbow in a freak accident Monday. The man's name has not been released. It happened around 9:30 a.m. in the hydraulic compound at the Wise Recycling Plant in Dothan. Reportedly, the man's arm got caught in a machine. Within 22 minutes of receiving the emergency call, Dothan Fire and Rescue were able to carefully take the machine apart, remove the arm and take it to Southeast Alabama Medical Center. Hospital officials expect him to recover from his injury and regain moderate use of his arm.
Farm worker saved after being pulled into a machine From The Bucks Free Press A FARM WORKER who was pulled head-first into a seed drilling machine while repairing it was saved after a woman heard his desperate cries for help. Fiona Macgregor, 48, heard his screams from her bathroom window on Eastwood Farm Cottage, in Stokenchurch, and afterwards, she said it is lucky he did not die in front of her. The accident happened last Saturday morning when the 28-year-old agricultural contractor was working at Eastwood Farm. Ms Macgregor immediately called the emergency services and the air ambulance was scrambled. Ms Macgregor said: "I was in my bathroom and I heard the cries of 'help me, I'm dying" and I rushed out of the house to see what was going on. If I had not been in my bathroom at the time of the accident - if I had walked out the room before he cried out - then I dread to think what would have happened. "If the machine had been further away from my house I may never have heard him - he is extremely lucky." After dialling 999, Ms Macgregor tried to comfort the man who was slipping in and out of consciousness. But when the ambulance crew arrived they could not get to the man, who was complaining of a loss of feeling in his legs, because he was wedged between two pieces of metal. Stokenchurch and High Wycombe fire crews were called to the scene along with the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance helicopter. The fire crews eventually managed to free the man by unbolting parts of the machine. He was then placed on a straight board and airlifted to Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Miraculously, Ms Macgregor said she later heard the man, who works for contractor Philip Matthews, had been discharged the same day with only minor injuries. Sally Garston, from Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance, said: "It took 45 minutes to get him out and five minutes to fly him to hospital. He had lost circulation so it was imperative to get him to hospital quickly. The A&E team at the hospital were amazed he made such a quick recovery."
UPDATE OSHA Cites Seabrook, N.H. Employer, Proposes Over $55,000 in Fines, following Death of Worker Crushed by Falling Mold CONCORD, N.H. -- The death of a worker at a Seabrook, N.H., automobile bumper manufacturer could have been prevented if the employer had developed and implemented required safeguards, reports the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Venture Holdings Corp. d/b/a Venture Seabrook has been cited for 20 alleged serious violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act following an Oct. 14 accident in which an employee was crushed by a large mold that slipped from a horizontal mold injection machine used to make automobile bumpers. A total of $55,050 in fines is proposed. OSHA's inspection found that molding machine operators were exposed to crushing hazards due to the company's failure to develop, implement and train workers in effective procedures to prevent the large bumper molds from slipping or falling and also failed to conduct periodic and regular inspections to ensure that molds were properly attached and proper procedures followed. "Knowledge and training are invaluable tools for protecting workers against hazards and are designed to prevent tragedies such as this," said David May, OSHA's New Hampshire area director. "Had proper and adequate safeguards been in place and in use, this accident would not have happened." Numerous other safety hazards at the 700 Lafayette Road plant were also identified and cited. These include instances of unguarded machinery, electrical hazards, defects in powered industrial trucks and operator training, blocked access to fire extinguishers and circuit breakers, uninspected cranes and slings, swinging of crane loads over a worker, improper storage and dispensing of flammable liquids, failure to promptly clean up spills of flammable liquids, lack of required eyewashes where employees worked with corrosive chemicals, improper storage of oxygen and acetylene cylinders and failure to conduct inspections of energy control programs to prevent the accidental startup of molding presses, conveyor lines and other machinery. OSHA defines a serious violation as one in which there us a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazardous condition about which the employer knew or should have known. The inspection was conducted by OSHA's Concord, N.H., area office. The telephone number is (603) 225-1629. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is dedicated to saving lives, preventing injuries and illnesses, and protecting America's workers. Safety and health add value to business, the workplace and life. For more information, visit www.osha.gov .
Company fined $14,000 after worker strangled to death FRIDAY , 11 APRIL 2003 An Auckland company was fined $14,000 yesterday after an employee was strangled to death when his tie became tangled in a grinding and milling machine. The fine will be paid to Adriano Rodrigues' widow. On November 1, 2001, the clinician from South Africa was working on the machine at the Orthotic Centre (New Zealand) Ltd. The centre supplies artificial limbs and other devices to the Health Ministry, ACC and private clients. Mr Rodrigues had walked into the Ellerslie workshop past a warning sign requiring employees to wear safety goggles and protective ear muffs. A notice warning "Do not wear loose fitting clothing" was also on the workshop's double doors. Mr Rodrigues was wearing neither goggles nor ear muffs when he turned on the machine. If his tie was tucked into his shirt it did not remain so. In Auckland District Court yesterday, John Haigh QC appeared for the Orthotic Centre, which was being sentenced after pleading guilty to a charge of failing to take all practical steps to ensure the safety of an emloyee. Mr Haigh said Mr Rodrigues was highly skilled and trained – reasons the company helped him emigrate to New Zealand in 1997. Mr Haigh said he was not being critical of Mr Rodrigues, but on that "terrible day" he had failed to pick up any of the three safety measures required of employees. "I want to emphasise the remorse and deep regret felt by the company." Shona Carr, prosecuting for the Department of Labour, told Judge Robert Kerr it was inexcusable for the company to identify a hazard and then require staff to wear ties. "Human beings, being what they are, don't do things they need to do all the time." Judge Kerr said the company required some staff to wear ties to show the professional nature of their job both in dealing with patients and manufacturing devices. The company has since banned ties. "The wearing of neck ties may now be a thing of the past in these types of industries," Judge Kerr said. "The accident was unforeseen as far as the defendant goes but in hindsight the hazard was there and pobably if thought had been given to it, it was obvious."
UPDATE WABCO Standard Trane Co. fined $75,000 for health and safety violation KITCHENER, ON, April 8 /CNW/ - WABCO Standard Trane Co., a Mississauga-based company carrying on business as American Standard, which manufactures enamel steel sinks and bathtubs in Cambridge, Ont., was fined $75,000 on April 7, 2003 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in serious hand injuries to an employee. On March 1, 2001, a press operator reached into a press to remove a gusset (metal bracket) when the press cycled without use of the controls. The worker lost several fingers as a result of the incident at American Standard's plant on Guelph Avenue in Cambridge. A Ministry of Labour investigation determined the press had deficiencies that could have been detected with proper maintenance. The accident likely could have been prevented if the press had been properly maintained. WABCO Standard Trane Co. pleaded guilty to failing, as an employer, to ensure the press was maintained in good condition. This was contrary to Section 25(1)(b) of the act. The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Jeannette P. De Jong of the Ontario Court of Justice in Kitchener. In addition, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.
NE OIL MAN INJURED IN BURNS ACCIDENT 16:00 - 08 April 2003 A Worker was airlifted from a North Sea platform after burning his face. The man was replacing pipes on the Ninian South platform, 90 miles north-east of Shetland, when the accident happened. Shetland Coastguard organised his evacuation to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. He was picked up by a rescue helicopter and flown to Aberdeen. A spokesman for platform operators Canadian Natural Resources said his injuries were slight. He said: "A crewman of the Ninian South platform was taken ashore by coastguard helicopter to hospital for treatment. He was involved in pipeline replacement work when the accident happened." He said the worker had been replacing a flange - a part for joining pipes - at the time. The man has not been named. The Health and Safety Executive confirmed it was aware of the situation. A spokeswoman said it was too early to say whether an inquiry would be carried out.
UPDATE Amcan Consolidated Technologies Corp. fined $95,000 for health and safety violation BURLINGTON, ON, April 7 /CNW/ - Amcan Consolidated Technologies Corp., an automotive parts manufacturer with a plant in Burlington, was fined $95,000 on April 1, 2003 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in serious hand injuries to an employee. On October 18, 2001, a worker was removing aluminium debris from a die-casting machine (a machine that produces metal forms for automotive parts) when one of the machine's pointed sensor probes speared the worker's hand. The probes were used to sense the depth of a ladle on the machine when the ladle was dipped into molten metal. The worker's injuries included a puncture wound through the right hand, as well as burns, nerve damage and permanent scarring to both hands. The incident occurred at Amcan's plant on Harvester Road in Burlington. A Ministry of Labour investigation revealed the company had ordered additional guarding devices for the machine following a similar accident on Oct. 10, 2001 involving another worker, but the devices had not yet been received at the time of the Oct. 18, 2001 incident. Amcan Consolidated Technologies Corp. pleaded guilty to failing, as an employer, to ensure the machine was equipped with guarding devices that would prevent access to exposed moving parts, which included the machine's ladle, ladle arm and sensor probes, as required by Section 24 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. This was contrary to Section 25(1)(a) of the act. The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Lena Mills of the Ontario Court of Justice in Burlington. In addition, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.
UPDATE £10,000 fine after worker loses finger By Bridget Ballance Apr 4, 2003, 15:00:00 A company has been fined £10,000 after a left-handed employee severed his finger using a right-handed chop saw in Cannock. Gary Lindup, operations director at Stairways Midlands Ltd, pleaded guilty at Cannock and Seisdon Magistrates Court for failing to ensure the safety of workers at the firm's Hollies Business Park site in the town. Michael Jones, 53, had only been employed by the firm, which manufactures wooden staircases and floor frames, for four weeks when he was hurt. On July 29 last year he was asked to work on the Makita chop saw, not his usual job, because the department was short staffed, the court heard yesterday. Miss Lyn Spooner, prosecuting on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive, said Mr Jones was shown how to use the right handed saw by another employee. But he started to operate it using his left hand. After the accident he underwent surgery to amputate his index finger and surgeons managed to save his middle finger, although he will never be able to use it. Miss Spooner said a Health and Safety investigation found a number of defects including inadequate maintenance and operator training and failure to provide a safety guard on the saw. Mr Charles Crow, defending, read statements from other employees to the court. In a statement Wayne Franklin, a supervisor, said if he had been aware that Mr Jones was left-handed, he would never have allowed him to use the saw. Mr Crow added the Oxfordshire company had never before been investigated by the Health and Safety Executive. Magistrates also ordered the company to pay £835.20 in costs.
Employee defeated equipment's safety devices Metal cap manufacturers Metal Closures of Tandem Industrial Estate, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, have been fined £7,000 with costs of over £1,400 in respect of an accident in which their employee David Hodkinson was injured when his wrist became trapped in a rolling machine as he tried to make adjustments. The company pleaded guilty at Huddersfield Magistrates' Court to two breaches of health and safety legislation. No suitable and sufficient risk assessment for the equipment, as required by r.3 of the Management of Health and Safety at work Regulations 1999, had been undertaken. It was also inadequately guarded. Investigation established that Mr Hodkinson employed a bypass device to override the safety switch in order to make adjustments by controlling it with the clutch - normally it turns the machine off when the guard is lifted. The machine was stopped in this manner and controlled by the clutch but his sleeve caught the clutch lever and reactivated the machine, trapping his hand. The company maintained it was unaware of employees' application of bypass devices. "The system of work used by the setters involved actively defeating a safety device and it had been accepted practice for 5 years," said David Green prosecuting, who declared it "a serious breach of the law, falling far short of standards required by employers."
Worker killed at Gold Kist Violet McDonald, Special to the News LIVE OAK - The death of a Hamilton county woman who became caught in an industrial machine early Sunday morning at Gold Kist Poultry Plant when the power was turned on is being investigated by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) officials. Around 3:40 a.m. March 29, Tammy E. Johnson was finishing up her duties at the plant when Suwannee County Sheriff's Office Lt. Tom Warren said she got her arm caught in the sprockets of a machine that was turned on by another employee. Warren said another worker heard her scream and immediately hit the emergency off button. That's when the co-worker found her caught in the machine. According to Warren, the woman was given first aid until she could be removed from the machine and was then transported by stretcher to meet Suwannee County EMS. She was transported to Shands at Live Oak where she was pronounced dead. "We're not looking at this as anything other than an accident," Warren said of his investigation. Johnson was a member of the poultry plant's cleaning crew. Reports state that Johnson had locks for the equipment to prevent it from being turned on while it was being cleaned. Three locks were found in her purse, Warren said. Johnson received fatal injuries to her left side, including broken bones, cuts and abrasions, according to a law enforcement report. Gold Kist spokesperson Karla Harvill said the company is deeply saddened by the accidental death of 39-year-old Johnson early Sunday morning. Johnson was a sanitation employee at the processing plant. "The company extends its deepest sympathy to her family, especially her husband, Curtis L. Johnson, a 15-year Gold Kist employee, and their three children," Harvill said. "Gold Kist immediately launched an investigation into the circumstances of the accident. The appropriate governmental agencies have been notified, and the company will cooperate fully with their investigation." James Borders, OSHA Area Director for the Jacksonville office, said it will be their department which undertakes the investigation f the industrial incident. The Jacksonville office is responsible for 37 counties in the northern portion of the state of Florida. "We have already initiated an inspection, and the purpose of our inspection is to find out what happened and find out if any violations of the OSHA standards occurred," Borders said. "We have up to 6 months to issue a citation if one is warranted." Borders added if a citation is issued, any penalties will be indicated on the citation, and once the employer receives the citation they have 15 days to contest it. Borders said OSHA keeps the family informed as to what is being done throughout the investigation process. Borders said OSHA mainly responds to complaints of working conditions, and employers must report a death or accident involving three or more employees to OSHA within eight hours. "Last year this office investigated about 42 fatal accidents," Borders said. OSHA does conduct planned inspections of employers with high injury and illness rates, Borders said. Anyone with concerns about safety issues at their workplace are encouraged to contact OSHA toll-free at 1/800-321-6742(OSHA). For more information about OSHA, you may visit their website at www.osha.gov, and there you may search for the accident history of any employer by the employer's name.
Worker saves comrade's life; Man's arm ripped off by paint mixer By AJAY BHARDWAJ, EDMONTON SUN A quick-thinking co-worker may have saved the life - and limb - of a man whose arm was severed in a horrific industrial accident, says an emergency services worker. "His co-worker applied a pressure bandage to the limb," said EMS Supt. Ernie Lulashnyk. "It controlled the bleeding and that probably helped save his life." On Monday night 18-year-old Steven James, a worker at Tower Paint, 15846 111 Ave., was at a paint mixing machine when his right arm became entangled in the shaft, said human resources manager Marion Campbell. His arm was ripped off about six to eight inches below his shoulder. "The entire company is shocked and very concerned for him," said Campbell. "I think everybody's thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. "We really wish and pray for him to have a speedy recovery." Paramedics treated and rushed James and his arm - found by firefighters called to the scene - to University hospital, where a trauma team and plastic surgeon were waiting, said Lulashnyk. His arm was reattached during surgery Monday night. Campbell said blood was flowing into James's limb yesterday but he wasn't sure if he will be able to use it. The plant was closed after the accident and will remain closed as Tower Paint and the provincial Human Resources and Employment department do separate investigations. The department issued a stop- work order, said spokesman Chris Chodan. Chodan isn't sure how long an investigation will take, given the great deal of evidence to sift through and witnesses to speak with. Meanwhile, Tower Paint held a meeting with 13 plant workers yesterday. "We gathered all the employees at the plant and had a meeting with them to talk about the situation, because it's been a terrible shock to his co-workers," said Campbell. "We talked about how they're feeling and a lot of it was 'it could have been me.' We've provided them with counselling, should they need it." She said there's never been an accident like this one before at the plant, which makes paint for industrial use.
Man crushed in wind farm accident Tuesday, 1 April 2003 A 49-year-old man is believed to have sustained serious injuries in an accident at the Challicum Hills Wind Farm yesterday. It's understood the man was crushed between two blades of a wind turbine. Rural Ambulance Victoria media officer Joanne Hill said paramedics who had treated the man at the scene reported that he had sustained internal chest injuries. ``He was in a serious condition,'' she said. The victim was taken from the scene by air ambulance and flown to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. Three road ambulances were also called to the Challicum Hills site following the accident which happened about 1.30pm. A spokesperson for Pacific Hydro, the company which owns the wind farm currently under construction, had no details available on the accident late yesterday.
UPDATE $100,000 fine for firm in worker's crushing death; St. Albert Precast failed to ensure machine met specs Duncan Thorne Journal Staff Writer Tuesday, April 01, 2003 ST. ALBERT - St. Albert Precast was fined $100,000 on Monday after its untested machinery crushed a worker in 2001. The company pleaded guilty to failing to erect and maintain the machinery in accordance with professional engineering specifications. Indeed, it had no final specifications. Richard Webster was found crushed beneath a hydraulic clamp barely five hours after he began operating it for the first time. The 61-year-old man was killed after somehow pushing down against a lever that brought a powerful clamp on top of him. No professional engineer had approved the device, which his employer, St. Albert Precast, had custom built. An engineering firm has since made a number of modifications, including changing the lever, so that pressing down raises the clamp. Provincial court Judge Norm Mackie also imposed a victim surcharge of 15 per cent of the fine, or $15,000. The Crown and defence made a joint submission favouring the penalty, and said it's within the range of other fines in workplace deaths where there have been charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The charge against Precast was the company's first under the act. At the time of Webster's death, Sept. 4, 2001, the maximum fine under the act was $150,000 for a first offence. The province increased the first-offence maximum to $500,000 last year. Webster's wife, Joyce, and daughter, Leona Cook, provided written victim-impact statements. They were not read aloud, but Mackie said he was mindful of a question in one: "How do you replace a man like this?" "The answer is very simple," he said. "You can't." He heard that Precast relied on an employee to design and, in large part, build the machinery, known as a splitter stacker. The unnamed employee is a millwright, not a professional engineer. The St. Albert company chose to build the equipment after failing to find a suitable commercial version for its production of retaining-wall bricks. The machinery splits sheets of moulded concrete bricks. After splitting them, a large hydraulic device descends and clamps around them, lifting them to a stack. A statement of agreed facts reveals that, in general, employees were given 30 minutes to an hour of training before operating the splitter stacker. They received verbal safety warnings. Webster started operating the machinery for the first time at about 7 a.m., the statement said. "At approximately 12:05 p.m., Robin Socholotiuk, the head yardman at Precast, approached the splitter stacker and observed Webster's body slumped over the roller bed of the splitter stacker, crushed under the hydraulic clamp." No one saw the accident, according to the statement. The assumption is that Webster bent over the roller bed, possibly to remove loose bricks, "when his body or hand came into contact with the lever controlling the downward motion of the hydraulic clamp, activating the clamp which crushed Mr. Webster under its pressure." He had been with Precast for just over a month, but had not worked on the splitter stacker until the day of his death. "The actual harm that occurred in this case is as great as it possibly can be," prosecutor David Myrol said. "It resulted in the loss of a life." Webster's background included managing and organizing a lumberyard and owning a trucking company. His training included warehouse safety and first aid. John Hope, lawyer for Precast, said company general manager Robin Andrusiw "has been most upset and concerned" about Webster's death. Hope said the company recognizes "what a horrible, tragic accident this was." He said the company, which employs up to 60 people, has had a good record with safety officials and no previous deaths or safety violations in its 30 years in St. Albert. Hope said it acted "immediately" after Webster's death to make the equipment safer, and issued written safety guidelines. Webster's wife and daughter, who sat solemnly through the court proceeding, declined to comment following the judge's decision. And Hope said the company had no comment.
UPDATE Charges laid in workplace death By BILL LAYE Herald-Tribune staff Burlington Resources Canada Ltd. and two of its employees have been charged with more than 12 occupational health and safety violations in connection with a fatal workplace accident last year. The provincial medical examiner's office says Rocky Wiens, a 41-year-old Valleyview resident, died March 17, 2002 of hydrogen sulphide poisoning while working at the Berland gas processing plant near Fox Creek. Wiens, an employee of Cobra Maintenance Ltd., which was working under contract for Burlington, was found lying face down on the plant floor by a co-worker at 5:30 a.m. that morning. Calgary-based Burlington, Brian Plontke of Valleyview, and John Veldhuis of Rolly View, about 10 kilometres east of Leduc, are scheduled to appear in Grande Prairie provincial court May 12. Provincial OH&S officials have charged the company with one count each of failing to ensure the health and safety of an employee, failing to ensure the work involved was performed by a properly-trained or supervised employee, failing to enforce proper in-house procedures for staff working with hydrogen sulphide, failing to properly train staff on the use and limitations of safety equipment, failing to perform a proper hazard assessment concerning an employee working alone in potentially-dangerous conditions, failing to ensure hydrogen sulphide-bearing piping was properly isolated prior to repair work being done, and failing to ensure a worker is trained in company procedures aimed at minimizing staff exposure to a hazardous substance. Plontke and Veldhuis are charged with one count each of tampering with an accident scene, purposefully giving false information to accident investigators, and failing to provide investigators with requested information. On Dec. 4, the maximum penalty for a first offence under the Occupational Health and Safety Act was increased from $150,000 and/or six months imprisonment for each charge to $500,000 and/or six months imprisonment. Provincial OH&S spokesman Chris Chodan says this is one of the first prosecutions under the ewly-amended fines schedule. If a conviction results, the case may help set the bar higher on safety violations fines across the province, he said. "It will remain to be determined by the courts whether the old fines (apply) or the new ones do."
UPDATE Corus admits guilt after man loses leg Mar 26 2003 By Antony Stone, PA News Surgeons were forced to amputate a worker's lower leg after his foot got trapped in an automatic train at a steel plant, a court heard today. Steelmaker Corus admitted breaching health and safety rules at a hearing at Neath Magistrates Court, South Wales. But magistrates sent the case to Swansea Crown Court for sentencing at a later date where the company could face unlimited fines as a result. Michael Davies, 32, of Margam, Port Talbot, was under an automatic rubble boom stacker at Corus' Port Talbot plant when the accident happened in February last year. The automatic carrier runs on tracks in the plant but was prone to breaking down when two sensors on its underside became dirty. Magistrates heard that the robot vehicle began moving with Mr Davies still underneath after he had cleaned just one of the sensors. John Allchurch, who led the health and safety executive prosecution, described how workers fought to stop the vehicle without effect. Colleagues ran to his aid after the shift worker reached out and pressed an emergency stop button on the vehicle only to find it did not work. "It was eventually stopped by another worker but I am not quite sure how," he told the court. "As a result of this incident, and having his right leg trapped, he sustained a serious injury which resulted in the amputation of his lower right leg." Corus, which faced five separate charges, admitted breaching section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. It also admitted breaching regulation 5 (1) and regulation 18 (1) of the provision and use of work equipment rules. Two other charges were withdrawn. Mr Allchurch said that inquiries later revealed there were significant defects in the design of the vehicle's control circuit. He said the company had also failed to implement safe working procedure and to keep the vehicle properly maintained. As a result it was hazardous to any operator who cleaned the machine. Richard Stead, for Corus, said that the company wanted to "express its profound regret" for the injuries suffered by Mr Davies. But he insisted that Corus took health and safety issues extremely seriously and described the accident as "an isolated incident." He said a safety working procedure for the vehicle did exist but had not been "properly disseminated." He added: "The good news is that he is coming back to work in the next two months and there is a job available for him."
UPDATE Worker injured by food machine Mar 25, 2003, 12:18:00 A Black Country food processing company has been fined after a woman lost part of a finger in a machine. Danexport Protein Foods Ltd yesterday admitted breaching health and safety laws at its factory in Ramsay Road, Tipton, on October 3. West Bromwich magistrates fined the firm £2,000 and ordered it to pay £1,000 compensation and £742 costs. Mr Gareth Langston, prosecuting for the Health & Safety Executive, told the court that 22-year-old Claire Totney was operating a screw conveyor machine carrying pork protein when the accident happened. Mr Langston said that Danexport had only installed the machine a few days previously and had been experiencing problems with frequent blockages, which had to be cleared by the operator. He said that supervisors saw Miss Totney using her hand to clear the machine and warned her not to do so. But he said that on the morning of October 3, she had put her hand into the conveyor and her left-hand middle finger was severed at the first knuckle. He said the offence had been aggravated by the lack of a safety device. Mr Huw Edwards, representing Danexport, said the firm had taken steps to ensure such an accident could not happen again. He said that Miss Totney had returned to work.
UPDATE Tembec Industries Inc. fined $110,000 for Health and Safety violation HEARST, ON, March 24 /CNW/ - Tembec Industries Inc., a Montreal-based company which owns and operates a planing mill in the Town of Hearst, was fined $110,000 on March 19, 2003 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in a serious arm injury to an employee. On February 3, 2001, a worker was helping a millwright realign a belt on a conveyor when one of the worker's arms got caught in the conveyor's end roll. A Ministry of Labour investigation found the conveyor had been locked out at the operator's control panel. However, the millwright had bypassed the controls and provided power to the conveyor by inserting an object into an electrical starter in the main electrical panel. This was done two or three times to jog the conveyor belt forward. The millwright and the worker made alignment adjustments between each jogging manoeuvre. The ministry found the electrical panel's door obstructed the millwright's view of the worker. The incident occurred at Tembec Industries' mill in the Town of Hearst in the District of Cochrane in Northern Ontario. Tembec Industries Inc. was found guilty, as an employer, of failing to take the reasonable precaution of ensuring the electrical control for the conveyor could not be bypassed when locked out. This was contrary to Section 25(2)(h) of the act. The fined was imposed by Justice Martin Lambert of the Ontario Court of Justice in Hearst. In addition, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.
UPDATE LP Tool and Manufacturing Inc. fined $45,000 for health and safety violations MILTON, ON, March 21 /CNW/ - LP Tool and Manufacturing Inc., an Oakville-based tool and die company which manufactures automobile parts, was fined $45,000 on March 13, 2003 for six violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in serious hand injuries to an employee. On August 27, 2001, a worker was operating a punch press when the machine malfunctioned and went through an extra cycle. The worker lost several fingers on the left hand. A Ministry of Labour investigation found the press had not been properly maintained. Several key parts of the press were corroded and lacked lubrication. A piston seal was almost shredded and the machine itself lacked an oil atomizer, lubricator and air dryer. The ministry found the worker had never been made aware of any of these hazards. The incident occurred at LP Tool and Manufacturing Inc.'s plant on Wyecroft Road in Oakville. Following a trial, LP Tool and Manufacturing Inc. was found guilty, as an employer, of: 1. Failing to ensure the press was maintained in good condition. This was contrary to Section 25(1)(b) of the act; 2. Failing to acquaint a worker with a hazard associated with working the press. This was contrary to Section 25(2)(d) of the act; 3. Failing to prepare and annually review a written occupational health and safety policy and to develop and maintain a program to implement that policy. This was contrary to Section 25(2)(j) of the act; 4. Failing to post a copy of the occupational health and safety policy in a conspicuous location at the workplace. This was contrary to section 25(2)(k) of the act; 5. Failing to cause workers to select a worker health and safety representative who did not exercise managerial functions. This was contrary to Section 8(2) of the act; and 6. Failing to ensure a health and safety representative inspected the physical condition of a workplace at least once a month. This was contrary to Section 8(6) of the act. Justice of the Peace Barry Quinn, of the Ontario Court of Justice in Milton, fined the company $20,000 on each of counts one and two and $1,250 on each of the other four counts. In addition, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.
UPDATE Crush horror: firm is fined Mar 24 2003 By Matt Casey , The Evening Chronicle A factory worker suffered horrific injuries when he was crushed by a 1,800kg piece of metal. Colleagues at a Washington factory rushed to help die-machine technician Jeff Taylor, 49, after hearing his screams, a court was told. They found him pinned up against the wall of the press room with a die resting on his lap and lower abdomen after it fell from a conveyor belt. Mr Taylor suffered two broken legs, two broken hips, a crushed chest, damage to his lungs and a kidney, and other serious injuries. Emma Scott, prosecuting for the Health & Safety Executive at Houghton-le-Spring Magistrates' Court, said he had to spend 10 weeks in intensive care and had been off work since the accident in February 7 last year. His employers, microwave manufacturer L G Electronics North East, of Birtley Road, Washington, admitted failing to ensure the safety of an employee. It was fined £12,000 with £1,600 costs. Miss Scott said Mr Taylor had been employed at the factory for two months but was a fully-trained and experienced die technician who had previously worked for another firm. During the production process the die was carried along the conveyor belt on a set of rollers on a fixed track, and two metal stop-ends prevented it coming off the conveyor. A probe into the accident showed it happened when the stop-ends were in the up position instead of the down. Production workers, said Miss Scott, had been instructed that the stop ends should always be in the down position. Barrister Jeremy Freeman, mitigating, said: "The firm is sorry for what happened and deeply regrets the serious injuries to Mr Taylor. "It has taken steps to assist with his recovery and hopes that he will be able to return to some kind of work appropriate to his mobility." The firm, he added, had been in operation for 13 years and had an unblemished record on safety issues. Mr Taylor, who is from Bishop Auckland, Co Durham, was not available to comment.
Man injured in industrial accident By Amy Guerrero / Staff Writer Thursday, March 20, 2003 Firefighters from Canton and Norwood worked for nearly two hours Thursday night, March 13, to free a 24-year-old man whose arm and hand became trapped in a rolling machine used to make electrical tape at Plymouth Rubber Co. Once freed, the man, Hugo Rodas of Providence, R.I., was taken by ambulance to the parking lot behind Building A of Canton High School and was flown by MedFlight helicopter to Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston. Hospital spokesman Jeff Ventura said that Rodas was listed in fair condition in the hospital on Tuesday, March 18. "This was a very difficult and very tedious extrication," said Canton Fire Chief Tim Ronayne, who was in charge at the scene. Two hydraulic Jaws of Life machines were used, as well as two airbag devices especially made for extrications, Ronayne said. "They lift up to 32 tons," he said. Rodas remained conscious during the rescue effort and was administered pain relievers by Canton EMTs. The Fire Department received a call for a "guy stuck in a machine," at 9:44 p.m. and freed the man at 11:55 p.m. Ronayne said about 15 firefighters from the Canton and Norwood fire departments responded and worked as a team to dismantle the "monstrous, very, very large machine," known as a "top coater." Working slowly and methodically, the firefighters "cribbed and blocked," as they painstakingly cut and dismantled the machine, taking care to ensure with each action that it was stabilized and could not be moved or jarred. "It was done in the safest manner for the victim," Ronayne said, adding that firefighters, "worked very well under strenuous conditions." Rodas was on his feet, but not totally upright, and his hand and arm were trapped in the machine. Ronayne said that he was part of a team of employees who worked on the top coater, one of at least two such machines at the plant located at 19 Revere St., Canton, almost across the street from the fire and police station. Ronayne said the machine was secured and that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration came to the scene to investigate the accident last Friday. A spokesman from OSHA could not be reached for comment. The helicopter arrived at the high school parking lot at approximately 11:45 p.m. A police officer at the scene said medical personnel got off the helicopter and were taken to the victim about two miles away, before returning with him in an ambulance shortly after midnight. While firefighters from Canton and Norwood worked to free the victim, an engine from Westwood and one from Randolph filled in at the Canton station. Ronayne said serious industrial accidents are rare at Plymouth Rubber. "It's been a long time since we've been over there for any type of accident," he said. News Correspondent Jim Clarke contributed to this report
Man's sawn-off hand successfully re-attached By Jillian Green Doctors have managed to save a Kimberley man's hand that was sawn off in a factory accident, thanks to a new drug. The drug - Hemopure - helps with the transportation of oxygen in the blood supply and would assist with reversing the damage to the vessels which had been cut off from the oxygen supply. According to Johannesburg surgeon Dr Gareth Edwards - who re-attached Gulu Godfrey Khoza's hand - the drug is manufactured using the haemoglobin of cows and has only been registered for the past 18 months. Khoza, 29, had been sawing three pieces of timber when a piece of wood jammed the gears of the machine he was using. While trying to unjam the gears, Khoza's right hand slipped over the blade - which it cut it off cleanly. In an instant, Khoza's hand lay on the floor. "I ran to my boss, leaving my hand on the floor. He took me to a hospital in Kimberley."Luckily a colleague noticed the hand on the floor, picked it up and followed them to hospital. Once at the hospital, a doctor contacted Edwards, who then arranged for Khoza to be airlifted to Johannesburg. Edwards operated on Khoza on Monday and by Thursday he could move his fingers slightly and had some feeling.
Fla. woman dies after getting caught in wood chipper Associated Press LAKELAND, Fla. -- A tree service worker died when she accidentally became caught in a wood chipper, police said. Her entire body passed through the machine. Roziland Jennifer Mowell, 24, of Lakeland, was working with a crew from Ashbranch Tree Service on Wednesday when she became caught in the chipper, police said. Mowell's husband, R. Bryan Mowell, owns the tree service company. Police spokesman Jack Gillen would not comment on how she was caught in the chipper. Her co-workers ran from the home, hopped into a truck and left the scene, Gillen said. They called police shortly thereafter, but Gillen said he didn't know why the workers originally fled. Contractors working across the street heard the wood chipper, which was still running. The machine was attached to a company truck. "It was their first day here and we didn't hear them doing any work," said Larry Laxdal, who was working across the street. "We didn't hear any chain saws going all morning. Then, all of a sudden they all hopped in the truck and left. The only thing we heard after that was the chipper." The co-workers were questioned and released, Gillen said. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident. Another employee of Ashbranch died on the job in 1996. Paul Plynaar, 16, was killed when a 30-foot tree trunk fell on him, police reported. OSHA fined the company $750 for a safety violation. Two people also died in wood chippers in Florida in 1999. Kurt McConnell, 14, was killed caught in a chipper while working with his father's tree-cutting crew in Gainesville. In Valrico, Joshua Avery, a 22-year-old tree trimmer, tried to free a stuck branch in a wood chipper with his foot and was pulled into the machine up to his waist.
Worker killed as warehouse stacker engages; El Monte man doing repairs by himself By Susan McRoberts Staff Writer Tuesday, March 18, 2003 - PICO RIVERA -- A 44- year-old El Monte man was killed Monday night when a pallet-stacking machine triggered unexpectedly inside a Pico Rivera warehouse, Cal-OSHA officials said Tuesday. Abel Rosales was repairing the hydraulic machine for Total Warehouse in the company's facility at 5102 Industry Ave., said Susan Gard, spokeswoman for Cal-OSHA. "Our investigation is in the preliminary stages at this point, but it appears that lockdown procedures may not have been followed,' Gard said. "We will continue to interview witnesses and other workers. We'll look into training records and other factors before we reach a determination about the cause of this accident.' Rosales, hired recently at Total Warehouse as a mechanic, was alone while other workers were on a regularly scheduled break at 8 p.m. Monday, according to police reports. Witnesses told investigators that the hydraulic machine must have engaged while Rosales was working on it. "It appears that Mr. Rosales was performing maintenance on a pallet stacker,' Gard said. "He put his body between the ram of the stacker and the frame.' An electronic eye that tells the stacker when to engage was apparently tripped by his movements, she said. "When that happened, the ram went up and he was caught between the ram and the frame,' she said. "It looks like the machine was not locked out, but we need to do a little more investigation before we know what all the circumstances are.' "Locking out' is a term mechanics use for disconnecting electricity, securing parts in place and ensuring that all moving parts are fastened down and will not move unexpectedly during maintenance, Gard said. "Even gravity can be a source of power that would cause something to move unexpectedly,' she said. The victim suffered head and neck injuries. Rosales was taken to Beverly Hospital in Montebello, where he was pronounced dead by emergency room physicians an hour later, said David Campbell, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. Several investigations into the cause of the accident are under way, said Bob Spencer, spokesman for the city of Pico Rivera. "Sheriff's homicide detectives were called, as is usual in a case like this,' Spencer said. Gard said Cal-OSHA investigators were on scene shortly after midnight Tuesday. Man injured in sawmill accident By Jim Holland, Journal Staff Writer HILL CITY — A maintenance employee of Rushmore Forest Products lumber mill near Hill City suffered serious injuries Tuesday after becoming trapped in sawmill equipment. According to Hill City Fire Chief Dar Coy, the man was caught in an in-feed chain in a tree debarker at the mill east of Hill City about 6:10 p.m. Coy said units from the Pennington County Sheriff's Office and Hill City fire and ambulance crews needed about 90 minutes to free the man from the machinery. The man was taken to Rapid City Regional Hospital with significant leg injuries, Coy said. His name was not released, and no word on his condition was available at news deadline.
FACTORY DOUBLE CHOP HORROR Mar 20 2003 A DOZY workman lost the tip of his thumb in a factory accident - then chopped off a finger as he showed his boss how it happened. Keith Sanderson, 25, was working on an automated guillotine when it ran across the end of his thumb. As he explained to his supervisor what had happened, he stuck his other hand in the machine - and it lopped off half the index finger. Magistrates found Newcastle-based Macy Panel Products failed to take "effective measures to prevent access to dangerous equipment". And they fined the firm, who produce kitchen work surfaces, £1500. The first accident happened as Sanderson carried out an examination of the machine with his bare hands. Dr Stephen Britton, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, said: "Mr Sanderson fiddled with the controls, touched a sensor and made the guillotine activate. "When his production manager asked what he had done, he thrust his other hand into the machine." Company director Paul Nelson admitted the accident was "baffling".
Accident Kills DaimlerChrysler Worker; Employee Reportedly Turned On Machine, Crushing Man's Head March 18, 2003 DETROIT-- An employee at the DaimlerChrysler McGraw Glass Plant in Detroit was reportedly killed in an accident Tuesday morning. The plant is located on McGraw at Wyoming on the city's west side. The employee went into a machine area without telling other workers he was there, and another employee turned on the machine that crushed the man's head, Local 4 learned from an unidentified worker. Another employee told Local 4 that some safety procedures were not followed. The victim's name has not been released. He was reportedly two weeks away from retirement. Homicide detectives, plant officials and the United Auto Workers union are investigating the accident. They expect to release more information Tuesday afternoon. Stay with ClickOnDetroit.com and Local First News for the latest developments.
UPDATE FIRM FINED FOR CRUSH TRAGEDY BY SEAN KIRBY 17:00 - 17 March 2003 A Waste company has been fined £200,000 after a worker was dragged into a machine and crushed to death. The fine imposed by Nottingham Crown Court on Shanks Waste Service is one of the highest ever recorded in Notts. It follows the death of foreman Herbert Baxter, 50, who tried to clear a blocked waste chute with a rake and was dragged into an unguarded conveyor belt on a sorting machine at the firm's Bunny plant. His arm and head became trapped underneath the conveyor belt roller and he died shortly afterwards. Shanks Waste Service pleaded guilty to two charges of failing in its duty to protect the health of an employee. It argued that, as foreman, Mr Baxter should have been aware of previous danger warnings to other staff. But, fining the company £200,000 and ordering it to pay the £8,802 prosecution costs, Judge Simon Hammond said companies also had a duty to protect staff from their own "casualness" over safety. The family of Mr Baxter, of Shepshed, Leicestershire, gasped when they heard the level of the company's fine. After the case Mr Baxter's mother, Queenie Fettes, would say only that she was "satisfied" with the outcome. David Travers, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), told the court that the company, which sorts waste from construction sites, had co-operated fully following the accident in January last year. He said it had made safety improvements at Bunny and its eight other similar UK waste sites. But he added: "The aggravating feature was the regrettable loss of life and the fact that other employees were exposed to the risk of serious, or even fatal, injury. This was not an isolated, but a continuing, lapse." Alastair Munt, for Shanks Waste Service, said the company had a "gold standard" safety rating from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. And it had spent more than £300,000, half of that at the Bunny site, on company safety improvements following the accident. Shanks had also been using the waste machine involved with the understanding that it met British Safety Standards. "This is not a case of a company profiteering by cutting corners," he said. "It's not a case of there being no guarding, protection or protective measures whatsoever." Geoff Smallwood, Shanks UK health and safety manager, told the Post: "We unreservedly apologise to the family for this tragic accident. "We hope the remedial actions and improvements Shanks have made as a result of this accident prevent any similar occurrence in the future." Andrew Turner, principal inspector for the HSE in Nottingham, said he was pleased that such a large penalty had been given. "This was a tragic accident which, as the judge said, was one waiting to happen," he said. In August 2001, Shanks Waste Service was fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £4,700 by Luton Crown Court after an Edwinstowe engineer suffered burns in an explosion involving gas pipes at a Bedfordshire landfill site operated by the company.
UPDATE Injured Owens Corning worker released from hospital By Jonathan Athens Advocate Reporter NEWARK -- Federal inspectors are investigating Owens Corning in the wake of a mishap that cost a 48-year-old Newark man his right arm. Thomas Brunner was discharged Wednesday from Grant Medical Center in Columbus, four days after he was injured in a machinery accident. Inspectors with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration began their investigation March 1, the day of the accident and are still investigating, said Debra Zubaty, area director. Owens Corning spokesman Frank Giovannelli said that at the time of the mishap, Brunner was operating a "flock feed" machine that separates fibers to make a special type of insulation used with HVAC systems. Giovannelli said there have been no reported accidents involving that machine in recent years, adding the company is conducting its own investigation. "We're still trying to determine what happened," he said. Brunner, who was unavailable for comment, has worked for the company for 26 years and returned to the plant briefly Thursday to say hello to his fellow workers, Giovannelli said. "He looks good. I can't tell you how great it is to see him. It was a happy moment for us at the plant," he said.
UPDATE Firm is fined on machine injuries Mar 7, 2003, 12:22:00 A worker suffered injuries to her arm after her clothing became entangled in machinery, a court heard. Ann Ockold was operating a pedestal drill at Thomas William Lench Ltd, in Carnegie Road, Rowley Regis, when she was pulled into the workings. Warley Magistrates' heard yesterday that the 41-year-old was lucky not to have been more seriously injured in the accident on September 17 last year. The long-established firm, which makes nuts and bolts, were fined a total of £2,500 plus £929 costs after they admitted two charges of breaching health and safety laws by failing to prevent access to dangerous machinery parts. Gareth Langston, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, said inadequate guards were fitted to the machine, leaving several centimetres of the drill workings exposed. The accident happened as Mrs Ockold, who was wearing rubber gloves and a knitted cardigan, switched her machine back on after stopping to remove a build-up of swarf. "She reached up to turn the machine back on and her sleeve became entangled and her arm was pulled onto the drilling machine," Mr Langston said. He added that the second charge related to a visit by HSE inspectors six weeks later, when workers were still using the machine. Mr Millband, defending, said the company, which had a previously clean record in safety matters, had now scrapped the machines.
FACTORY WORKER HURT 10:30 - 06 March 2003 A Factory worker was taken to Cheltenham General Hospital when he injured his hand in an accident. Jason Smith, 27, from Pershore, was working at Dowty Engineered Seals Ltd in Ashchurch, when the accident happened at 11am yesterday. Facilities manager Dick Tranter said: "He caught his left hand on the roller. It was not crushed. We don't believe he broke anything." An investigation into the accident was being carried out, he said.
Worker loses a finger By Karen Robes Staff writer Wednesday, March 05, 2003 - LONG BEACH It was like finding a needle in a haystack, or, in the case of seven Long Beach fire and police members, a severed finger in a local furniture factory. Authorities on Wednesday recovered the digit of a Los Angeles furniture maker and rushed it to St. Mary Medical Center, where doctors were laboring to reattach it, said Fire Capt. Scott Clegg. Around 9 a.m., a car with three employees from a Willard Street furniture business arrived at Station No. 13, where firefighters met a man grasping his bloody right hand, said station Capt. Paul Lepore. The victim accidentally sliced three of his digits and lopped off his ring finger with a large table saw. While a rescue team rushed the victim to the hospital, fire and police officials drove to the factory and sifted through sawdust and stacks of wood for the missing finger. Within 15 minutes of their search, firefighter John Davis spot- ted the finger in a pile of wood. The victim, Abel Oviedo, 33, of Los Angeles, remained in surgery most of the day, but Clegg said he is expected to have successful reattachment of his ring finger.
Officials investigate accident at Owens; Worker in fair condition after losing arm By David Gilligan Advocate Reporter NEWARK -- Owens Corning officials on Monday were trying to figure out how an employee lost his arm while operating a piece of machinery at the Case Avenue plant. Thomas Brunney, 48, of 419 S. Second St., was listed in fair condition at Grant Medical Center in Columbus, where he has remained since the accident that occurred shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday. Brunney, the operator of a machine that manufactures HVAC insulation, suffered a mid-arm amputation during the accident, said Frank Giovannelli, a spokesman for Owens Corning. Brunney was transported to Grant by an ambulance because poor weather had grounded medical helicopters, Giovannelli said. Additional details were not available Monday, but Giovannelli said the company will continue to investigate the accident. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration also planned to investigate, according to its regional office in Columbus on Monday. This is the second major industrial accident in less than a year at the Case Avenue plant. Charles Scott Laughery, a 36-year-old industrial electrician who lived on Pierce Avenue, was killed in October from injuries he suffered while he was repairing packaging equipment. OSHA found no violations in a subsequent investigation that concluded in December, and the death was ruled accidental. Although not classified as an industrial accident, a worker from an outside company doing contracting work for Owens Corning at the Case Avenue plant died after he fell 25 feet off a roof in 2000. Ed Shields, a spokesman for Glass, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers Local 244, said Monday that the union is still gathering details on the latest incident and declined further comment on safety regulations at the Newark plant of Toledo-based Owens Corning. The union represents nearly 800 of the plant's 1,100 employees, including Brunney.
Worker dies while trying to fix roller coaster in mall The Associated Press 3/1/03 10:34 PM LIVONIA, Mich. (AP) -- An assistant store manager at a mall here was killed Saturday when he was run over by the indoor roller coaster he was repairing, according to a broadcast report. The employee of the Jeepers restaurant and game room in the Wonderland Mall was standing along the rails and looking at a potential trouble spot when the train hit him from behind, WJBK-TV reported. Investigators said they believed the 43-year-old Dearborn Heights man, whose name was not released, was killed instantly, the station said. An officer who answered the telephone at Livonia police headquarters said no information about the accident was available Saturday night.
UPDATE Quebecor fined for violations By MARDEE ROBERTS The Leaf-Chronicle The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined the Clarksville Quebecor plant $15,300 for four serious violations following investigation of the Dec. 20, 2002 death of a worker. The company was notified by certified mail sent Wednesday about the results of the TOSHA investigation into the death of Donald Wilkerson, 50, of Cunningham Lane, who was pulled into and crushed by a shrink-wrap machine at the International Boulevard plant. The Clarksville Quebecor plant prints magazines and employs about 1,000 regular and temporary workers. Quebecor World Clarksville was unavailable for comment about the TOSHA report. The company has 20 days after receiving the citation to decide if it will appeal, said John Winkler, TOSHA administrator. In a prepared news release, an official with the Graphic Communications International Union said TOSHA was correct to cite the company in Wilkerson's death. "But $15,000 is a small price to pay for a person's life," said Duncan Brown, vice president of the union, which has members at the Clarksville plant. Local union president Patsy Shepherd, a co-worker of Wilkerson's, said she agreed. "Donald's death was a preventable tragedy. Quebecor must correct the problems in the plant before someone else gets hurt or killed," Shepherd said in the same prepared release. Each of the four violations was classified as serious in the TOSHA report. A serious violation is one where there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and that the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard, according to OSHA guidelines. TOSHA reported Quebecor failed to outline the proper shut down procedures for the shrink-wrap machine, did not properly train workers to safely maintain the machine, did not provide the necessary tools to shut down the machine, and did not supply guarding to protect workers from the moving parts. The company was fined $3,600 each for the first three violations. The fourth violation, about providing guarding around the machine, crried a $4,500 fine, Winkler said. According to Winkler, the maximum fine per violation is $7,000.
UPDATE Boss fined after worker's fingers were sliced off Feb 27 2003 By Paul Mcmillan, The Evening Chronicle A factory worker lost four fingers and a thumb in an industrial accident, a court was told. Justin Tindale's fingers and thumb were sliced off when he caught his hand in an unguarded saw. Amazingly, he managed to scoop them up with his other hand and surgeons were able to re-attach the severed digits in a 17-hour operation. The accident happened when the 20-year-old went to remove a blockage from the saw at the factory of the Team Valley Windows company, based on Gateshead's Team Valley trading estate. The town's magistrates were told that Mr Tindale had been cutting up UPVC at the time. Laura Lyons, prosecuting for the Health & Safety Executive, said the firm's proprietor, Thomas Vaughan, had failed to ensure part of the guard on the trigger-activated machine was in place at the time of accident. Mr Tindale was trying to remove a small piece of UPVC which could not be reused when his hand came into contact with the exposed blade. Mrs Lyons said: "He let go of the triggers, walked round to pick up this small piece and, as he did so, his hand inadvertently became exposed to this small section. "In an instant all four fingers and his thumb were amputated." Mr Tindale remained calm enough to gather the missing digits with his other hand. Mrs Lyons added: "Justin picked up the fingers himself, aware of how important this was. "Because he did that, the hospital, with great care, managed to sew them back on." Mr Vaughan co-operated fully with the following investigation and took instant action to replace the missing guard section. His solicitor, Jim Dais, said that the firm now has a new £7,000 saw to avoid any repeat of the accident. He added: "Mr Vaughan very much regrets the accident and accepted straight away that if the guard had been in position then that accident would not have occurred. "Following the accident he made sure that an accident of this type could not take place again." Vaughan pleaded guilty to contravening health and safety regulations by not ensuring the guard was in place. He was fined £750 and ordered to pay £500.40 costs.
Tractor shreds farmboy 25/02/2003 20:29 - (SA) Riot Hlatshwayo Ermelo - A 15-year-old farm worker was shredded by a tractor-drawn grass cutter two weeks ago but has not been buried yet because his family is too poor. Nkosinathi Lucas Lephoto was caught in the sharp blades when the driver tractor drove past him on Klipkrans farm in Ermelo on February 14, said spokesperson for the Ermelo police station Captain Carla Prinsloo on Tuesday. "The first time the tractor driver realised something was wrong was when the machine made a strange noise as if something was trapped in it," she said. The boy's body was so badly shredded, that various body parts had to be collected and taken to the local mortuary. Lephoto was a casual worker on the farm and had arrived from Daggakraal near Wakkerstroom to join his aunt who works there. On Tuesday, the boy's family approached the department of land affairs' regional office in Ermelo and asked for a donation so they could bury him. Head of the office, Star Motswege, said the family was very poor and that he had told them to return on Wednesday for further negotiations. A land rights NGO in Mpumalanga, The Rural Action Committee (Trac) said it was unfortunate that farmers and employees waited until tragedy struck before discussing funeral arrangements in the event of a fatal accident. Director Chris Williams said the organisation would conduct its own investigation and try find a solution for the family. Farmer Petrus Taljaard was unable to comment as his line went dead. His cellphone was set on voicemail. - African Eye News Service
UPDATE Factory fines for machine accident Feb 25 2003 By Ian Fannon Echo Reporter CONTROVERSIAL chipboard factory Sonae has been fined after a worker was crushed by heavy machinery. The plant was today facing a legal bill topping £30,000 after admitting offences under the health and safety at work act. Knowsley magistrates court heard how worker Ian Fairclough was lucky to escape with his life after the accident on the production line in April 2000. He was knocked unconscious and suffered three fractured ribs, a broken collar bone and a punctured lung when his body was crushed between a moving carriage arm and a conveyor. Mr Fairclough, who still works at Sonae, was off work for more than three months and has been left with a disability down his right side. He still needs treatment for post traumatic stress disorder nearly three years after the incident. The court heard yesterday how Sonae admitted its training procedures and safety precautions were inadequate at the time of the accident. The company apologised to Mr Fairclough and promised the court it took health and safety matters seriously. But District Judge Michael Morris said: "It is important that firms such as Sonae do not sacrifice safety for profits. "In this case, more care should have been taken and more precautions put in place to ensure such accidents do not happen." He fined Sonae £ 15, 000 and awarded costs of £16,703 against it. The accident happened while machinery was still being installed at the plant by German firm Dieffenbacher. A health and safety executive inspector had visited just four weeks earlier to check procedures and warned that risk assessments needed to be carried out. The production line was regularly breaking down to the point where the conveyor belt needed unblocking up to four times an hour. It was Mr Fairclough's job to ensure the line kept running, the court heard. But to do so it involved entering the danger area where machinery was running. Staff at the factory, through lack of training, believed that entering a gate into that area would immediately shut the power off to the entire line, when in fact it did not.
UPDATE Man's fingers were cut off Feb 21 2003 By John Hall Daily Post Correspondent WORKMATES packed the fingers of a colleague in frozen peas in a desperate attempt to save them after they were sliced off in a North Wales factory. Hazlewood Foods, of Abenbury Way, on Wrexham industrial estate, yesterday admitted failing to ensure the safety of an employee. It was fined £10,000 with £10,000 costs after the worker had two fingers cut off while using a food-processing machine. Town magistrates were told that Christopher Lowe, 51, lost the tops of the two fingers from his right hand in spite of attempts by other workers to preserve them in frozen peas in case surgeons could sew them on again. He was seriously injured when he reached up and put his right hand into a mixing bowl from which the protective guard had been removed. Tudor Williams, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, said a workmate saw a glove with two fingers missing and realised what had happened. He looked inside the machine and saw the two glove fingers there, complete with Mr Lowe's severed fingers inside. He put them in a bag of frozen peas to see if they could be preserved and stitched back on, but they were too badly damaged. Mr Lowe was taken to hospital and after surgery, spent two days as an inpatient followed by several weeks of treatment. He returned to work four months later, doing a different job. The injury had caused obvious permanent damage and he was still having trouble with the grip in his right hand. A sliding guard with an electro-magnetic switch should have covered the machine so that it was impossible to operate while the guard was removed. Reports from other work-ers revealed that over a period before the accident the machine had often been used with the guards disabled. Taking the magnet off part of the guard and putting in the operating position completed the electrical contact necessary to start the motor. A foot pedal with a button that had to be pressed to make the machine work had been placed on the table and wedged against the machine to keep it permanently in the "on" position, making it ineffective. The company should have made checks and known about it and they had not carried out a full risk assessment. Christopher Green, defending, said the foot pedal was installed as a second safety measure following a visit by a health and safety officer. The company had a good safety record. Paul Holloway, presiding, said the magistrates had considered the aggravating features that the shield was not in place at the time of the accident and the machine had been used like that for the last four weeks.
UPDATE Employee gained access to dangerous parts of machine In March 2002 Kenneth Kowalczyk, an employee of Grampian Country Chickens (Banff) Ltd was operating a hock-cutting machine when it became blocked. On attempting to access the blockage he contacted a circular cutting blade and sustained severe injury to his hand and wrist. His employers admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act in the circumstances of the accident and the company was fined £5,000 at Banff Sheriff Court. Mr Kowalczyk was insufficiently informed and trained in the correct action to take when the machine became blocked. Sheriff Alan Finlayson commented: "It is a serious matter and the company accepts that training and supervision was less than adequate." The Sheriff did however accept that the company had responded correctly to the accident. The production line is now fully enclosed, and properly guarded.
Employee Reportedly Dragged Through Car Wash; 21-Year-Old Suffers Minor Injuries February 20, 2003 A local car wash employee was injured Thursday when he reportedly got caught in the machinery. The 21-year-old man got his foot caught in the roller that moves the cars through the car wash, Local 4 learned. The mechanism reportedly dragged the worker for a short distance. Emergency crews rushed the worker to St. John Hospital. He reportedly suffered minor foot injuries. The car wash is located on Seven Mile Road and Reno in Detroit.
Worker's legs trapped in harvester 19feb03 A FARM worker has been seriously injured after his legs became stuck in a potato harvester. It took Victorian emergency services more than three hours to free the man last night. He was trapped while working on the harvester at a property near Murrayville about 8pm (AEDT). The man, believed to be aged in his late teens, was flown to the Royal Melbourne hospital with a fractured leg and severe lacerations. A Rural Ambulance Victoria spokesman said his condition was described as serious but stable. WorkSafe Victoria is investigating the incident.
Worker dies in workplace mishap Herald Reporter A FITTER and turner employed by the Gold Star White Sugar company, situated in the heavy industrial area in Harare died a painful death last week when an elevator he was repairing at the company’s milling plant amputated his arm. Police spokesman Chief Superintendent Bothwell Mugariri identified the deceased as Mr Isaac Nyazvigo (26) of Mufakose. Chief Supt Mugariri said Mr Nyazvigo was repairing the elevator in the company of two others when the accident occurred. "The elevator suddenly started moving cutting the left arm of Mr Nyazvigo in the process," he said. "The deceased was ferried to Harare Central Hospital where he was pronounced dead on admission." There were unconfirmed reports alleging that the accident resulted in the plant stopping operations for two days last week. Chief Supt Mugariri said officials from the Department of Occupational Health and Safety were in the process of investigating the accident. "It is only when the investigations are completed and forwarded to us that we can decide whether to open a docket or not," he said.
Dye tank burns five Cassie Tarpley Star Staff Writer CLIFFSIDE — A 200-degree mixture of dye, chemicals and water under pressure critically burned a textile plant worker Friday, sending the woman to a Georgia burn treatment center. Carla Edwards’ injuries reportedly included burns over about 90 percent of her body after what was first reported as an explosion in a dye house at Cone Mills Cliffside plant, 3478 U.S. 221A. “There wasn’t actually an explosion,” Mark Franklin, human resources manager for the plant, told The Star. “There was an expansion tank that the cover was under pressure, and that was opened while under pressure,” Franklin said. “That allowed hot dye and the chemicals inside to splatter on the associates in the area.” Five employees were in the room, he said. Four of them — Danny Jolley, Leslie Williams, Tad Brackett and Linnie Walker — were taken to Rutherford Hospital, said DeLane Davis, the hospital’s public information officer. “All were treated and released,” Ms. Davis said. “All were found to be in good condition.” The incident happened about 11 a.m. Ms. Edwards, the fifth person, was taken to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, said Franklin, who would not identify the workers. However, their identities were confirmed by officials at the two hospitals. Franklin did say the woman had burns “over a significant portion of her body.” Ms. Edwards was flown by helicopter Friday afternoon to Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, Ga. At 6:30 p.m. Jackie Voss, clinical manager in the burn unit, said she was in critical condition. An investigation of exactly how the incident happened had not begun Friday afternoon, Franklin said. “Our main concern right now is for our associate and their family and the others involved,” he said. The released water and chemicals from the tank could have reached temperatures of more than 200 degrees. Franklin did not know how Ms. Edwards became burned more than the others, he said. “She was just exposed to more of the splatter than the others. We’re still trying to determine exactly what took place.” However, Ms. Edwards was closest to the tank, standing next to it, according to maintenance mechanic Danny Jolley’s account of the incident. Cliffside Fire Department, Rutherford County Emergency Medical Service and Rutherford County Rescue Squad responded to the plant. Personnel were working to contain the area of the spill, Franklin said, “And we’re making sure no others are exposed.” He did not say what chemicals were involved. The Cliffside textile manufacturer employs about 500 at the plant, he said. That’s on all shifts, and only part of the work force was on duty at the time. “In that department, less than 10 people,” he said. “It’s a very small area.” No other parts of the plant were affected and plant operations were not disrupted, he said. “Of course, the area where the accident occurred, production was stopped in that area.” Franklin acknowledged the incident as “certainly a serious accident,” but said, “In the company and at this plant location, we’ve had an outstanding safety record over the years. We certainly consider safety our number one priority.” Cone Mills produces apparel and home furnishings fabrics. Headquartered in Greensboro, the company has more than 3,000 employees in five manufacturing facilities located in North and South Carolina, and a joint venture operation in Mexico. Greensboro officials did not return The Star’s calls Friday. The Cliffside plant, built by Raleigh Rutherford Haynes, was bought in 1927.
UPDATE Compensation for missing fingers 11.02.2003 4.06 am A Lower Hutt company has been fined $10,000 after a worker had two fingers amputated following a workplace accident. Precision Ltd was sentenced yesterday in the Wellington District Court after being prosecuted by Occupational Safety and Health. The fine will be paid to the victim, whose three fingers were crushed in a punch and forming press last year.
UPDATE OSHA Finds Major Problems in Accident Leading to Critical Injury of Foundry Worker in Milwaukee; Company Faces $127,750 Fine for Safety Shortcomings MILWAUKEE -- Serious injuries sustained by a foundry worker at Maynard Steel Casting Company, Milwaukee, could have been avoided by observing appropriate safety procedures involving the use of abrasive grinding machinery, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which has proposed a $127,750 fine. "Protecting the health and safety of workers in America is one of the chief concerns of the U.S. Department of Labor," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "Our regulations prescribe excellent methods to keep workers safe from the hazards associated with grinding wheels and we will make certain these regulations are followed." Milwaukee Area Office Director for OSHA George Yoksas said the agency opened an inspection of the firm following the Aug. 6, 2002 accident that occurred when an abrasive wheel on a swing grinder exploded, propelling fragments and the wheel guard itself some fifty feet and striking the grinder operator. The worker was hospitalized in critical condition following the incident and has not yet fully recovered. As a result of that investigation, OSHA has proposed willful and serious citations alleging improper or lack of equipment safety testing and maintenance, and issues involving machine guarding. The company has 15 working days from receipt of the citations to appeal before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
UPDATE Firm fined for horror accident Feb 8 2003 By Matt Casey, The Evening Chronicle A worker suffered horrific injuries when crushed by a spiking machine. Three vertebrae were shattered, a lung punctured, ribs broken and a knee-joint dislocated during the accident at car component factory SAI Automotive in Washington. Paul Smith, a father of one in his early twenties from Sunderland, had to have a steel plate fitted into his back . The firm was fined £14,000 with £1,540 costs by Houghton-le-Spring magistrates after it admitted failing to ensure the safety of an employee. Mr Smith was working alone on the carpet- moulding production line at the factory on the Patterson industrial estate in June 2001. The firm makes more than one million carpets and trims for the Nissan car factory in Washington. Mr Smith climbed into the machine to change the spiking system for the shape of the carpet, but as he bent down, the upper spiking section suddenly lowered, crushing and trapping him in the machine . The upper spiking system should have been controlled by a beam system but it had been set up wrongly. Laura Lyons, prosecuting for the Health & Safety Executive, said the lower section of the machine had previously been welded. When the accident happened this caused the lower section to collapse - otherwise Mr Smith would have been killed. Mrs Lyons added: "There should've been a clearer system of working and it should've been monitored by the employers. It's a very dangerous piece of equipment to operate. It's a complicated and sophisticated system and one the operator could not have been expected to fully understand." Solicitor Jonathan Dunkley, for the firm, said: "The company was absolutely devastated by this accident and desperately sorry to have lost its unblemished record on health and safety issues. "Mr Smith is making a good physical recovery and the firm would welcome him back, perhaps on part-time duties. The firm is fully supportive of him and will be paying compensation in another court." The machine was originally designed to be operated by two workers. But to help production one worker operated it and was instructed to seek help from a team leader or other officers whenever there was a need to change the size of the spiking system. Mr Dunkley added: "Clearly this instruction wasn't followed and in the weeks before this accident it became custom practice for an operator to take it upon himself to do it alone when resizing was needed. "The firm was unaware of this, and it was an unsafe and unsatisfactory practice." Since the accident the firm introduced new safety measures which are constantly reviewed and revised."
El Dorado Hospital elevator crushes worker ROMANO CEDILLOS Tucson Citizen Feb. 6, 2003 An employee of El Dorado Hospital was crushed to death yesterday while working inside an elevator shaft, a Tucson Fire Department official said. Carlton Salsbury, 60, a maintenance technician with the hospital, was working at El Dorado Plaza, 1420 N. Wilmot Road, which houses medical offices near the main hospital building, when the accident happened, said Sgt. Marco Borboa, a Tucson Police Department spokesman. The man and a co-worker were performing maintenance at 1:30 p.m. on an elevator at the medical complex near the hospital. The man was crushed between the top of the elevator and the ceiling of the elevator shaft, said Battalion Chief Randy Ogden of the Tucson Fire Department. He said it was unclear exactly what caused the accident, but the man was on top of an elevator compartment when the accident happened. Officials of the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health could not be reached last night. In 1998, a Tucson man fell down an elevator shaft during the construction of the Federal Courthouse, at West Congress Street and South Granada Avenue. Lloyd L. Gainous Jr., a bricklayer, was partially paralyzed after falling 50 feet down the shaft. He suffered severe head injuries. Investigators for the state's Division of Occupational Health and Safety determined that neither general contractor Swinerton & Walberg, a Los Angeles-based company, nor B&B Masonry Co., a Tucson-based subcontractor, was at fault. Also during the construction of the courthouse, a Tucson mother of three was critically injured when she was crushed by a 5,200-pound maintenance elevator counterbalance. Kristina Repasch, who was 31 at the time of the incident, had torso and head injuries. Capt. Brian Delfs, a Tucson Fire Department spokesman, said the large coil springs that cushion the weights at ground level also keep the weights from touching the ground. That probably saved Repasch from being killed, he said.
UPDATE Corus fined for fatal accident HSW breach Corus has been prosecuted and fined £10,000 with £1,286 costs after admitting failures that led to the death in an industrial accident of fitter Bob Powlay, 54, at its Stockton, Teesside steel plant. Mr Powlay was fatally injured in October 2000, Teesside Magistrates Court heard how a 3.5 tonne steel plate fell on him, severely injuring him. He was working at a conveyor belt when a proximity switch was activated, causing the plate to move. He died some weeks later in hospital. Referring to this, HSE's Adrian Penn said: "The company knew the machinery could start up automatically and suitable, appropriate, effective preventative measures had not been taken. Employees lacked specific knowledge of the risk and how to minimise it." Corus acknowledged that Mr Powlay had insufficient information, but said that signage indicated a requirement for isolation before proceeding. After the hearing Mrs Powlay commented: "I thought it would have been the maximum fine and I'm a little bit disappointed. I just think what a waste of a life, for someone who was so well loved and so needed."
Woman Injured in Industrial Accident Location: Danville, VA Posted: February 04, 2003 11:12 PM EST A Southside woman is still hospitalized after getting her arm caught in a piece of stainless steel machinery Monday night. Nikita Sydnor works at the Nestle plant in Danville. Rescue squads were called out just after 10:00 Monday night. It took them more than two hours to free Sydnor from the machine. She was then airlifted to Duke Medical Center where she will undergo surgery on her arm. The Nestle plant manufactures refrigerated pastas. Plant managers plan to investigate the accident. OSHA files show the plant has a good safety record. OSHA last inspected Nestle in 1995. At that time there were no safety complaints.
UPDATE Worker lost his foot trying to clean unguarded machine A Grampian fish processing company has been fined £3,000 for failing to meet the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act in the circumstances of an accident in which their employee, George Milne, 53, lost his foot. The accident at Fresh Catch's Peterhead processing plant occurred when Mr Milne attempted to clean a water filtration machine. While doing so he lost his footing, trapping his left foot under a moving roller, the equipment's protective guarding was not in place at the time. His foot required to be amputated later in hospital. Those present at Peterhead Sheriff Court heard how a colleague, without authority, had given instruction to Mr Milne to climb up to the machine's gantry even if a ladder was unavailable to access the blockage. Additionally, this work was not one of Mr Milne's allocated duties. A very serious breach Christopher Anderson, Fresh Catch's Managing Director, explained that a breaker switch is now fitted to the machine. Sheriff Malcolm Garden commented: "I think I have to take account of the fact that having a piece of machinery unguarded is a very serious breach. However, this is a company with an otherwise excellent record. I take the view that they did consider and activate steps that this won't happened again and this shows they are responsible employers." Mr Milne said after the prosecution:"I knew the factory was guilty from day one."
Worker's arm crushed at plant; Supervisor blames language barriers, newness to the job KYTJA WEIR Staff Writer MARSHVILLE - A man's arm was caught and crushed in equipment Tuesday at a Marshville plant that recycles snack food into animal feed. General Manager Ric Chapman said the accident at the Bakery Feeds plant came from a misunderstanding fueled by the worker's newness to the job and language barriers. Steven Christopher Ruiz, 29, of Paces Avenue in Matthews had worked in the 30-person plant about two weeks when an augur -- a 9-inch-wide and 12-foot-long corkscrew that carries mashed snack food -- stopped working around 10 a.m., Chapman said. Workers turned off the power and cleaned out the machine, Chapman said. ut when supervisors told workers to "clear" the area to test it, Chapman said, Ruiz put his right arm into it as the power started. His arm was sucked into the tool nearly up to his shoulder, medical responders said. Paramedics worked for an hour and a half to free him. Chapman said language barriers likely played a role but being new was the main reason Ruiz didn't understand what was happening. "Obviously you wouldn't stick your hand into the equipment if you thought we were going to turn it on," he said. Half the staff at the facility is Latino, Chapman said. The company conducts some job training in Spanish, and a Latino supervisor was on-duty at the time, he said. Three Latino workers said they often receive instructions in Spanish and English. Ruiz was airlifted to the Carolinas Medical Center where he underwent surgery.
UPDATE OSHA taking a closer look at on-the-job death; Victim's real name discovered after body ID'd By Allison Floyd The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating Friday's on-the-job death of a 20-year-old man working at Trus Joist MacMillan in Colbert, but the agency would release little information, citing an ongoing investigation. G.T. Breezley, the spokesman for the Northeast Georgia OSHA office in Tucker, would say only that Limberg Aguilero Zarco was an employee of Flexstaff Services of Winder when he died Friday. Zarco died in an ambulance on the Trus Joist grounds, and he was pronounced dead at Athens Regional Medical Center at 3:47 a.m. Friday, according to Madison County Coroner Michelle Cleveland. Zarco likely died from injuries caused when a piece of machinery crushed his chest, she said, though the Georgia Bureau of Investigation hasn't issued an autopsy report. The coroner was scheduled to meet with Zarco's family Tuesday to explain the circumstances of his death. Zarco's employers and co-workers knew him by another name, Reyes Estrada, according to the coroner, and officials learned his real name only after a man claiming to be his brother identified him at the hospital. ''We are working closely with the all the parties involved,'' said Janet McRanie, regional communications manager with Weyerhaeuser Co., the parent company of Trus Joist. The mill was shut down for 30 hours, she said, once company executives learned Zarco hadn't died of natural causes. ''Our sympathy goes out to the Reyes family, and our prayers are with them in this very difficult time,'' McRanie said. All workers, including temporary workers, receive safety training, she said. Trus Joist MacMillan manufactures and distributes lumber products for both residential and industrial construction projects. The Colbert plant manufactures Parallam, an engineered lumber product used for bridge and industrial construction projects.
UPDATE Broken arm was lucky break for worker Peter Davies, an employee of Krono-span of Chirk, chipboard manufacturers, may have broken his arm in an industrial accident, but nevertheless must consider himself lucky that he did not put his arm on the other side of a laminate flooring machine's roller. If he had done so as his colleague pressed a button which inadvertently started the equipment it could have cost him his life, the in-running rollers would have seen to that. ccident waiting to happen Krono-span was fined £15,000, with £2,127 costs, at Wrexham Magistrates Court, having admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act in the circumstances of the accident. rosecuting, Clive Brookes said: "This was an accident waiting to happen, the rollers closed and trapped his arm in the machine, luckily he was on the side where it rolled his arm out. On the other side it would have rolled him into it. So it happened his arm was broken and thrown out and we are not dealing with a crush injury".
UPDATE Firm fined £15,000 after worker's arm got stuck in machine Jan 24 2003 By John Hall Daily Post Correspondent CHIPBOARD giant Krono-span has been fined £15,000 following an accident when a man caught his arm in a rolling machine that was accidentally started while he was cleaning it. Magistrates at Wrexham were told that Peter Davies, who lived near the Chirk plant, was lucky because the rollers were revolving outwards and threw him clear instead of crushing him. He escaped with a broken bone in his wrist and returned to work within eight weeks. The company admitted failing to ensure the safety of an employee. They were ordered to pay £2,127 for the Health and Safety Executive's investigation and costs. Clive Brookes, prosecuting, said the 70-metre long machine was used for making the extremely thin but durable resin impregnated surface film used on laminated flooring. Paper on a huge roll was fed in through a series of rollers and alternately covered with resin, then baked, cooled, covered again and heated again in sequence until it came out in a smooth sheet at the other end. The machine had been stopped and Mr Davies was cleaning bits of paper from inside it while his work mate Mark Butler was trying to find out why another roller had stuck in the wrong position. He was pressing buttons on the central control panel to see if the roller would move. Finally he pressed a button that - unknown to him or anyone else at the factory - was a delayed start button which set the machine rolling. Although the machine had been in use for three years the button had never been pressed before and no one knew what it was for. Mr Davies, on the other side, had just reached between the roll-ers and his arm was caught and twisted upwards but fortunately extruded and not pulled inwards. "This was an accident waiting to happen," the prosecutor said. "Peter had been watching Mark trying to trip the roller. He walked away and reached through to pick up a piece of paper inside the open rollers. As he did so, Mark pressed a button which had never been pressed before and at that point the whole sequence came into operation, which was entirely unknown to the operators. "The rollers closed and trapped his arm in the machine. "Luckily he was on the side where it rolled his arm out. On the other side it would have rolled him into it. As it happened his arm was broken and thrown out and we are not dealing with a crush injury " Stephen Edwards, defending, said the company had immediately disabled the switch and carried out a full risk assessment. There was no element of asking workers to take risks for profit motives. Although the management did not know of the delayed start buton they had to accept responsibility.
UPDATE Lack of Worker Protection at Fairfield, Ala., Steel Plant Leads to OSHA Citations and $87,500 in Proposed Penalties BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today cited the United States Steel Corporation, Fairfield Works, issuing one repeat and17 serious citations with proposed penalties totaling $87,500, following three separate inspections of the facility. OSHA began an investigation Aug. 13, after being notified of an Aug. 3 accident at the plant that resulted in the amputation of a worker's feet. According to agency findings, the employee was standing on a coiled metal strip helping to lower the top of a dryer tank when an operator activated a mechanism that pulled the strip and the worker's feet into machine rollers. The company received seven serious citations, including failing to use proper lockout/tagout procedures that would have rendered the machinery inoperable before maintenance work began. Proposed penalties for these citations are $33,500. "Following the OSHA requirement to make the machine inoperable could have prevented this accident," said Roberto Sanchez, OSHA's Birmingham area director. "The OSHA lockout/tagout standard was developed to protect workers from this type of accident." After completion of the accident investigation, OSHA was informed of additional unsafe working conditions at the plant. Investigations, conducted on Sept. 17 and Oct. 22, resulted in one alleged repeat and 10 alleged serious citations with proposed penalties totaling $54,000. The company was cited for repeated failure to protect workers from safety hazards associated with the use of electrical power. The serious safety hazards included lack of machine guarding; exposing employees to falls from stairs, elevated working surfaces and slips on floors; improper labeling of hazardous chemicals; lack of confined space entry procedures and improper handling and storage of compressed gas cylinders. The Pittsburgh, Pa.-based company has 15 working days to contest the OSHA citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The agency issues a serious citation when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew or should have known of the hazard. Staff from the Birmingham OSHA office, located at 2047 Canyon Rd., conducted the inspections; telephone: (205) 731-1534. OSHA also has a compliance assistant program, separate from its enforcement program, to help employers initiate and maintain an effective safety and health program at their facilities. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is dedicated to saving lives, preventing injuries and illnesses, and protecting America's workers. Safety and health add value to business, the workplace and life. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.
UPDATE Worker's Death at Houston, Texas, Worksite Brings OSHA Penalties of $175,000 DALLAS -- A Houston sheet metal fabrication shop's failure to implement procedures to prevent the accidental startup of a waste handling machine contributed to the death of an employee, according to citations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. "This company had been cited by OSHA in the past for similar violations," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "Following the appropriate safety standards might have prevented this accident." Campo Sheet Metal Works Inc, a manufacturer of various metal works, was fined $175,000 for four alleged willful and two alleged serious violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, following an investigation at the company's Houston facility on Lindbergh that began July 29, 2002, in response to the 17-year-old employee's death. The company employs about 49 workers. According to Raymond Skinner, OSHA's Houston South area director, the willful citations were for failing to develop and implement a "lockout/tag-out" program. Lockout/tag-out involves shutting off and locking out the energy source to a machine that is undergoing maintenance or repair to prevent an accidental startup. The company failed to train workers against the hazards of releasing stored energy, failed to conduct annual inspections of the employees as they performed the lockout/tag-out procedures to identify weaknesses in the program, and failed to remove employees to a safe position before equipment is energized. A willful violation is defined as an intentional disregard of or plain indifference to the requirements of the OSHA law and regulations. The two serious violations were for failing to train employees and require the use of personal protective equipment. A serious violation is one in which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from the violation. Employers and employees with questions regarding workplace safety and health standards can call the nearest OSHA office. OSHA=s toll-free hotline may be used to report workplace accidents, fatalities, or situations posing imminent danger to workers. The number is 1-800-321-6742. The employer has 15 working days from receipt of the citations to either comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is dedicated to saving lives, preventing injuries and illnesses, and protecting America's workers. Safety and health add value to business, the workplace and life. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.
Man killed in food mixer A Midrand factory worker has been killed when he was pulled into a food mixing machine when someone accidentally switched it on while he was cleaning it. Johannesburg - A Midrand factory worker was killed on Tuesday morning when he was pulled into a food mixing machine, Johannesburg Emergency Services reported. Spokesperson Malcolm Midgley said Edmond Thobejane, an employee of Flavourome in the Midline Business Park in Midrand, apparently switched on the machine by accident while he was cleaning it. The machine pulled him in, killing him instantly. Midgley said firemen from the Midrand fire station had to disassemble the machine to remove the body. The machine was used to mix batches of food colouring and flavouring. Captain Martin Hulk of the Midrand police said no foul play was suspected. Police had taken note of the industrial accident.
UPDATE Saw injury firm must pay £5,000 By Bridget Ballance A Staffordshire window manufacturer has been fined £5,000 after a 17-year-old worker was badly hurt using a saw which did not comply with health and safety regulations. Philip Betts was left permanently scarred by the accident at Enterprise Glass and Glazing Limited, formerly of Unit 10, Landywood Enterprise Park, Holly Lane, Great Wyrley. Director Paul Gillion, told Cannock magistrates that the firm admitted failing to ensure the safety of people using a manually fed pivoting head circular saw. Mr Guy Dale, of the Health and Safety Executive, said on April 8 Mr Betts, one of two employees, was using the saw, which was usual practice. His hand slipped off the lever, under the blade causing a serious laceration and severed tendons. He said he still had limited feeling and permanent scarring and arthritis. Factors leading to the accident included a missing spring and safety switch and a guard held in place by sticky tape. Mr Andrew McGuire, defending, said the firm stopped trading two months after the accident and had £6,000 in profits. Mr Betts was now work-ing in another job. Mr McGuire said the tape was an attempt to protect workers a saw bought from a firm which had gone into receivership meaning it was hard to quickly find a replacement spring. Magistrates chairman Graham Jones said the offence warranted a fine of £10,000 but he took into account the firm's finances and it was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £850 costs.
Brentwood Plastics cited by OSHA, faces $109,000 penalty The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued citations and proposed a $109,000 penalty against Brentwood Plastics in Brentwood, Mo., for its failure to implement safety standards that led to a fatal accident last year. OSHA said a machine operator was caught between a rotating winder arm and an equipment frame last July, crushing his body and killing him. OSHA Regional Administrator Charles Adkins said managers were aware of a malfunctioning machine whose moving parts were being manually cleared by employees without locking out the source of power to the machine, as required by safety regulations. The citations include two alleged willful violations, six alleged serious violations and an allegation that the company failed to provide forklift training and certification to operators, and to guard energized, exposed electrical components. Willful violations are those committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the OSHA Act and regulations, OSHA said. Serious violations are those in which violations of the Act or standards result in the substantial probability of death or serious physical harm, and that the employer knew or should have known of the hazard. Brentwood Plastics has 15 days to comply with the citations, request an informal conference or contest them, OSHA said. Brentwood Plastics produces bulk plastic films and employs about 28 workers.
UPDATE OSHA fines beef processor, contractor in worker's maiming By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A beef processor and a contractor have been fined nearly $100,000 for an accident that amputated the legs of a worker cleaning a meat grinder - the second such accident in two years. the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Wednesday cited the two firms for safety violations that contributed to the June 23, 2002 accident at S&C Beef Processors. Montgomery-based S&C was fined $22,500 for one willful safety violation and BMS Contract Services was fined $77,000 for one serious and two repeat violations, said Ken Atha, OSHA's acting state director. S&C hired BMS to clean its processing machinery. Workers dismantle the meat grinder and turn it over to BMS for cleaning. During a shift change, an S&C worker started the grinder without knowing a BMS employee was inside. The victim's legs were caught in the machine and amputated. Atha said the tragedy could have been prevented "if just one of the companies" had used its own lockout program and properly transferred control of the equipment. BMS, based in Burlington, Iowa, was cited previously after similar violations resulted in an amputation at the same plant, OSHA officials said. S&C, a subsidiary of ConAgra Foods, employs 550 workers in Montgomery. Both companies can appeal OSHA's findings and penalty.
Accident victim dies of injuries ARMANDO RIOS Bulletin Staff Writer The 45-year-old Flippin man injured in an industrial accident at RLH Inc. Thursday afternoon, died later that night at Baxter Regional Medical Center. Tommy Ray Carpenter was injured just before 3:20 p.m. at RLH, 1305 Rossi Road. Mountain Home Patrolman Rodney Villiger arrived at the location and discovered Carpenter sitting on a rear axle of a garbage truck with his torso wedged between the back of the truck's cab and the mechanism that pushes the trash compactor forward. By the time Villiger arrived, the pressure had already been released from the victim's torso and he was only loosely wedged, the report stated. A witness stated Carpenter was working on the mechanism and told him to start the truck up, Villiger's report stated. When the witness started the truck, he heard the mechanism start moving. The witness stated he immediately ran around and reversed the mechanism but it was too late. A supervisor stated that in addition to the main switch to start the mechanism, there are two additional switches that he could have accidentally switched on.
Severed hand sewn back after seven hours in plastic bag Doctors managed to save a man's severed hand after he stored it in a plastic bag for more than seven hours. Romanian Petre Miron, 55, stored his hand in a bag filled with ice after it was chopped off at a saw mill. The half-hour journey to hospital turned into a seven-hour wait as severe blizzards held up ambulances. When he finally arrived Mr Miron, who lives in a small village in Neamt county, northern Romania, underwent a six-hour operation involving two teams of surgeons. Dr Theodor Stamate, of Iasi hospital, praised Mr Miron's calmness in storing the hand on ice after the accident. He said: "The operation was a success, but we still don't know if our brave patient will be able to use his hand in the future. I've never seen anyone behave so coolly. What he did is simply amazing."
Bowling alley worker killed in resetting machine accident A 29-year-old overnight maintenance worker was crushed to death by a bowling pin resetting machine at a west side bowling alley. Employees who arrived for work at 8 a.m. today at West Acres Bowl, 749 N. Ridge Road, found the man still caught in the machine, police said. It appears the man was on all fours when the machine came on and trapped him, police said. Paramedics pronounced him dead on scene. Read more about this story in Thursday's Eagle.
UPDATE, Company fined $160,000 after crush injury A BATTERY firm has been fined a total of $160,000 by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission sitting in court session after a worker suffered crush injuries and burns to his right hand that resulted in the amputation of four fingers. BNG Battery Technology of Padstow pleaded guilty of a breach of Section 15(1) of the Occupational Health & Safety Act 1983. The court heard that the worker of the firm reached into an operating lead alloy casting machine to pick up a drip tray that collected residual lead from the machine. As the worker did so a moving part of the machine caught the employee’s glove, crushing his right hand. Justice Kavanagh commented that the firm had advance warning of the risk and that there were obvious and simple steps to avert the risks. WorkCover Acting General Manager Rod McInnes said the case reflected the failure of an employer to remove an identified risk in the workplace.
UPDATE, OSHA urges fine against Plum Creek plant for violations By JO DEE BLACK Tribune Staff Writer The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed $169,000 in penalties against the Plum Creek plant in Columbia Falls. The penalties -- for accusations that Plum Creek failed to protect employees working on a conveyor system -- are the result of an OSHA investigation of a fatal accident at the plant on July 11. David Hoerauf, 50, died of head injuries received during an accident that occurred when he and another man were repairing a conveyor belt. Hoerauf stepped onto another belt that was turned on, but not operating. Ernie Freebury, Flathead County's deputy coroner, said the conveyor started with Hoerauf still standing on it, causing him to lose his balance and fall into a chute. Other conveyors picked him up, funneling him into another chute and into a large hopper full of wood fiber. Hoerauf was then scooped up by a front-end loader and dropped into a tractor-trailer truck that was being loaded with wood fiber. Freebury said the scenario played out in a matter of seconds, and the victim's partner had no time to summon help before it was too late. Plum Creek General Manager of Panel Products Dennis Robinson said the death was a tragedy, but that his company believes its plants are safe. "After we review the facts of the citation, we'll defend ourselves based on our record of operating safe plants," he said. OSHA's Billings-area office issued one willful violation for equipment lockout hazards, including failure to de-energize equipment before employees worked on it, not locking equipment out-of-service and not having authorized employees perform machinery lockouts. The proposed fine is $70,000 for the violation. OSHA also found two alleged repeat violations for failure to protect employees from hazardous parts on conveyors, unguarded chains and sprockets. The agency assessed penalties of $37,500 for those violations. Eight alleged serious violations include failure to: provide emergency stops on conveyors and alarms for conveyors that start automatically; provide fall protection for employees working above dangerous equipment; provide identifiable locks used for lockouts along with lockout training; verify that equipment was de-energized before working on it; provide guarded projecting shaft ends, belt pulleys; and using compressed air for cleaning purposes in excess of safe pressure. The proposed penalty for the violations is $31,500. Another $30,000 in penalties are also proposed by OSHA for Plum Creek's alleged failure to correct a previous citation that required the company to prepare written machinery lockout procedures. Plum Creek has three weeks to request an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or to contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
UPDATE, Aluminum plant challenges fine in worker's death; State agency says safety rules not properly enforced By James Bruggers A Rubbertown-area aluminum plant where a maintenance supervisor was fatally burned last May has challenged a $4,000 fine from state inspectors who allege a ''serious'' violation of occupational safety regulations. The Kentucky Labor Cabinet's Occupational Safety and Health Program visited the Eckart America LP aluminum plant at 4101 Campground Road two days after a May 18 flash fire and explosion in which James T. ''Tommy'' LaMaster, 46, of Louisville suffered severe burns. He died two weeks later. The agency concluded that the company had not ''developed, documented and utilized'' proper safety procedures, and issued a citation, according documents obtained under the Kentucky Open Records law. Specifically, the citation alleges that unnamed employees required to trouble-shoot and maintain an aluminum powder conveyance system failed to ensure that power to the system remained turned off. ''When an employee is working on a piece of equipment with (power) involved, it is to be locked out so that no one else can turn it on,'' said Eddie Jacobs, spokesman for the Kentucky Labor Cabinet. He declined to elaborate. Eckart officials in Louisville would not comment about its decision to appeal. The company's Chicago lawyer, Michael Dolan, would only say that the firm is following ''an administrative process.'' In a filing with the Kentucky Attorney General's office, the company asserts that it had appropriate safety and health work rules in place, and that they were effectively communicated to employees. State law allows a fine of up to $7,000 per serious citation, said Kembra Taylor, the agency's general counsel. Various factors, such as the gravity of the violation, history of violations and ''good faith'' of the company are weighed before a fine is determined, she said. The case is awaiting the appointment of a hearing officer. Ultimately it will come before the Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, a quasijudicial body that hears and rules on contested cases. Lake Dreamland Fire District Chief John Wilkinson said at the time of the accident that aluminum powder escaped from a blown gasket and ignited, and that the resulting fire burned LaMaster. Officials have not said what LaMaster was doing at the time of the explosion. The company makes aluminum powder and pigments. Aluminum powder is highly flammable. ''It's like gunpowder,'' said Charlie Clephas, financial secretary and treasurer of Pipefitters union Local 522, of which LaMaster was a member. He called LaMaster ''a good guy -- an aggressive hard worker . . . with a family.'' LaMaster was the second worker to die as a result of an explosion at the plant since 1995. That blast occurred under the ownership of the Reynolds Metals Co. The plant was purchased by the Eckart, based in Germany, in 1997. No one was injured in a 1993 explosion at the plant.
Farm Mishap Kills Jefferson County Man Wisconsin Ag Connection Editors - 01/03/2003 A Jefferson County man died on his farm late Wednesday after he apparently became entangled in a grain auger. Authorities say 67-year-old Richard McDonald was pronounced dead at the scene. Deputies found McDonald near the hopper of the auger after his wife reported him missing early Thursday morning. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department stated that McDonald was apparently trying to feed silage into the auger when he got caught in the machine. The accident happened in the Town of Watertown.
Man's arm caught in machine along Indian Land highway By Staff Reports The Herald INDIAN LAND -- A 40-year-old man was injured Thursday morning when he caught his left arm in a gravel machine as he worked along U.S. 521, authorities say. The Troutman, N.C., man underwent surgery on his arm at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, said Angela Staehr, a Lancaster County paramedic. His name could not be released because his family had not been identified Thursday afternoon. He suffered a large flesh wound and major tissue damage between his elbow and shoulder, Staehr said. About 8:30 a.m. in the 900 block of U.S. 521, someone heard the man cry for help when his arm got caught between a roller and safety guard in the truck-sized machine. His clothing got snagged in the equipment, pulling his arm in. The victim's coworkers helped emergency medical workers free his arm by taking the machine apart. All but 6 inches of his arm was trapped inside the machine, and medical personnel gave him large doses of morphine at the scene to ease his pain, Staehr said. "He was in a real good deal of pain," Staehr said. After he was freed, the man was driven to Carolinas Medical Center for surgery.
Fingertips severed in accident; In Lancaster County, six people were injured in snowblower accidents. By SHAWN LEDINGTON Daily Record staff Friday, December 27, 2002 A man pushing a snowblower up a small hill behind Edgar Fahs Smith Middle School in York slipped on ice Thursday. Falling to the ground, his hand landed in the rotating blades of the machine. The tops of each of William Bones' middle, ring and index fingers on one hand were completely severed, according to Jose Cruz, who said he was working with Bones to clear the snow when Bones slipped and fell. Bones' condition was not available Thursday. It was not clear which hand was injured. Cruz said he and a woman from inside the school helped gather the three finger pieces - which were all still inside Bones' glove - from the blades of the snowblower. "I gave them to (the paramedic) in a bag," he said. "It's a shame, he's only in his 50s," said Cruz, who was clearing off steps behind the school when his co-worker was hurt. An ambulance picked up Bones at the school and took him to York Hospital. Tom Graybill of the York County Office of Emergency Operations, who is acting as the county's director of emergency services, said that another snowblower accident occurred Wednesday in the county. In Lancaster County, Graybill said, six people injured their hands in snowblowers on Wednesday. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' Web site, hospitals and emergency rooms treated 3,546 injuries related to snow throwers and snowblowers in 1999. Two-thirds of snowblower injuries involve fingers. Among consumer products, snowblowers are a leading cause of finger amputations. People using snowblowers should make sure they're tuned off before putting hands anywhere near them, Graybill said. "Snowblowers are becoming a hazard," he said.
Man still hospitalized after being hit by spring From the Journal Sentinel Dec. 23, 2002 West Bend - A 28-year-old West Bend man was upgraded to serious condition Monday and remains in a hospital after being struck by garage door spring. Daniel Pies of West Bend was injured last week while working on a garage door at Dave's Auto Recycling in the Town of Farmington, according to authorities. Pies and a co-worker were working on a garage door spring about 8:45 a.m. Dec. 17, authorities reported. Pies was on top of a 12-foot extension ladder disassembling the opener. He was working on the bolts that hold the apparatus together when the spring let loose, according to reports from the Washington County Sheriff's Department. The spring hit Pies in the throat and chest and knocked him off the ladder. He fell to the concrete floor below, injuring his head. The man working with Pies immediately applied pressure to the large wound in Pies' upper chest while another employee called 911, reports say. Boltonville Fire Department personnel went to the salvage yard in the 2000 block of County A, and Pies was taken to St. Joseph's Community Hospital. A short time later, he was taken by Flight for Life to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Wauwatosa. The exact nature of Pies' head injuries have yet to be determined, according to a Froedtert spokeswoman.
Longtime city worker dies in accident; 51-year-old Wesley Black stood out among city employees By Sarah Riley News-Chronicle Wesley Black, a 32-year Green Bay public works employee, was killed Monday morning as he was unloading a truck used to plow snow this weekend. Black, a 51-year old truck driver, got caught in the salt-spreading unit on the back of a dump truck at about 8 a.m. He was removing treated sand so the truck could be used for other things. He did not have a pulse when a rescue squad arrived at the west side garage at 519 S. Oneida St. Public works director Carl Weber described Black as a jovial man who stood out among the city's employees. He was married to Patricia and had a grown daughter, Chris, and will be remembered as someone who often played Santa Claus at holiday parties because of his great sense of humor. "It's hit the employees very hard. Wesley Black was a very outgoing, exuberant type of guy," Weber said. "He was very popular and certainly well-known by all the employees." Weber said Black previously worked in the city's sewer department and has driven a truck for several years. Weber said Black was used to working with the truck's equipment. The accident is under investigation and was reported to the state Department of Commerce. Black was alone when the accident happened, and employees found him within minutes. Workers on the scene, those who use similar equipment and city staff will be interviewed for the investigation. "The city staff will cooperate with whatever investigation they would choose to do," Weber said. There are safety devices on the salt spreader, Weber said, but they are only effective when the truck is spreading salt or sand. Black's death is the first on-the-job fatality or accident of its type for the city, Weber said. Weber said the accident has been very difficult for everyone who knew Black, and assistance workers were brought in to counsel employees. Green Bay Mayor Paul Jadin and Weber talked to the family Monday.
UPDATE, Everett company sued over death A California woman has sued an Everett company alleging that equipment it manufactured was defective and responsible for her husband's death in October 2001. The suit was filed on behalf of Maria Zenaida-Garcia. Her husband, Gregorio Garcia-Munoz, was asphyxiated after his clothing became caught in a machine made by Recovery Systems Technology Inc., according to the lawsuit filed in Snohomish County Superior Court. The accident happened in Portland, Ore., when Garcia-Munoz was working at a soil recycling company site. A Labor Ready Inc. employee, he had been processing soil through a trommel, a piece of industrial equipment containing a rotating drum and conveyors, the suit said. The upper part of his shirt caught in an unguarded pulley and he was asphyxiated, the suit says.
Man dies from injuries at workplace; body pulled into shrink-wrap machine By STEPHEN HOLMES The (Clarksville) Leaf-Chronicle CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - A Quebecor World Clarksville employee died from injuries sustained after he was pulled into a shrink-wrap machine at the printing plant late yesterday morning. Donald Wilkerson received severe injuries to his chest, abdomen and right arm after his full body was reportedly trapped in the machine about 10:30 a.m. Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesman Clinton Colmenares said Wilkerson ''died of a crush injury'' at 12:40 p.m. He said the county coroner would be performing an autopsy and those findings may have a bearing on the official cause of death. In a written statement, Quebecor World Clarksville Vice President Bruce Rheinecker said a ''thorough investigation of the accident is in progress. We are deeply saddened by this tragic event.'' The company declined to elaborate on the accident. Local plant employees also declined comment. The factory, at 451 International Blvd., employs about 1,000 regular and temporary workers in the commercial printing of magazines. When Emergency Medical Service crews arrive, Wilkerson had been removed from the shrink wrap and was lying on a roller inside the warehouse, EMS Lt. Christopher Brown said. He had no pulse and was classified in trauma arrest while being transported to Gateway Medical Center. He was revived by paramedics and taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center by Lifeflight helicopter. With the death occurring in the workplace, The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration will begin an investigation, said Steve Hawkins, TOSHA assistant administrator. The investigation, which could last up to eight weeks, will determine if any TOSHA standards were violated. ''We have to interview the witnesses to the accident, the managers and supervisors - basically, anyone who can give us insight to what happened,'' Hawkins said. Should it be held responsible, Quebecor could face fines ranging from $7,000 for a severe violation to $70,000 for a willful violation. Hawkins said a willful violation ''is when an employee may have known the right thing to do and didn't.''
UPDATE, Owens Corning cleared in death NEWARK -- Owens Corning will not be cited or fined in relation to the accidental death of a worker at its Case Avenue plant in October, an official with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said. Deborah Zubaty, OSHA area director, said the agency recently closed its case and found there were no violations Oct. 11 when Charles Scott Laughery, 36, was killed. Owens Corning investigators concluded the incident was accidental, said Owens spokesman Frank Giovannelli. Laughery, an Owens Corning industrial electrician, was repairing packaging equipment when the accident occurred. OSHA and Toledo-based Owens either could not or refused to disclose further information regarding what caused the accident. The Licking County Coroner's Office indicated Laughery died from multiple internal injuries resulting from blunt force to his chest and abdomen due to compression by a mechanical device. A message seeking comment was left with Laughery's family.
UPDATE, OSHA reduces fines of plant where worker died Federal officials have agreed to reduce the fines imposed on a recycling plant where one worker was killed and two were seriously injured after safety violations caused a deadly explosion. In November, Newstech PA was fined nearly $19,000 by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 11 alleged violations after a nearly two-month investigation into the Aug. 11 explosion. After a Dec. 4 meeting between Newstech and OSHA, the agency agreed to cut its proposed fine by 20 percent, from $18,900 to $15,120, George Tomchik, director of the Allentown OSHA office, said Thursday. Officials at the plant, which specializes in recycling newspapers by bleaching the ink out of the paper, have said the blast happened when a mixer that brings together pulp and a bleaching agent ruptured. The blast killed John Thomas Stefano, 56, of Pohatcong Township, and injured Edward Kavcak, 47, of Forks Township, and Joe Yost, 47, of Kunkletown. Newstech is still responsible for fixing the violations OSHA cited, Tomchik said. Changes include writing instructions for turning off steam energy to a pulp mixer _ a procedure OSHA said might have prevented the mixer from exploding. Tomchik and Newstech spokesman Ken Robinson said most of the violations have been fixed to OSHA's satisfaction. "They had probably 90 percent of the items corrected," Tomchik said. Newstech had about 60 employees in Northampton at the time of the explosion, Tomchik said. Because Newstech's parent company operates several similar plants in the United States and Canada, OSHA officials opted for the 20 percent reduction given to larger businesses, he said. The Dec. 4 agreement is not an admission of wrongdoing, Tomchik said. However, the company recognized the violations and promised to correct them, he said. Northampton is about 70 miles north of Philadelphia.
Repairman Killed In Elevator-Shaft Accident; Fatally crushed during work at Bronx hospital By Melanie Lefkowitz and Stephanie Saul John Neary, 29, of Saddle Brook, N.J., was killed outright, police said. Neary was an employee of Nouveau Elevator, which had won a Health and Hospitals Corp. bid to modernize the elevators at the South Bronx hospital. He and another employee were working in the basement around 11 a.m. yesterday to replace an electrical panel on one of the hospital's visitors elevators when the lift, which should have been disabled, came rumbling down, police said. Neary was inside the shaft standing on a ladder and the other man was in the hallway when the second man heard a vibrating sound, police said. He opened the doors of an adjacent elevator and looked in to see his partner crushed between the elevator and the wall, police said. Accident reports from the buildings department show that the worker was the fourth person killed in the city this year in an elevator accident. A student at Truman High School in the Bronx, was seriously injured when a freight elevator door gave way there. Ilyse Fink, a spokeswoman for the buildings department, said the agency is investigating why the elevator was not properly disabled while the worker was inside. Standard procedure requires that the stop switch in the elevator be placed in the off position during maintenance. "He was apparently on the ladder, which leads down to the pit, and did not hear the elevator descend. This is a very quiet elevator. He may not have heard it, or didn't hear it in time," Fink said. Fink said the Department of Buildings issued a notice Dec. 3 for failure to tag the elevator for a five-year load test, one of the periodic tests required for elevators in the city. Fink said the load test is not related to the failure of the elevator's switch to be placed in the full stop position during maintenance. A woman who answered the phone at Nouveau, which is based in Greenpoint, said the company would have no comment on Neary's death. A spokeswoman for Lincoln, Sylvia Reyes, had few details about the incident, but said the hospital and several other agencies, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, will investigate. "Our condolences go out to the family, friends and co-workers of the deceased," Reyes said.
UPDATE, Kidd Creek fined $337,500 following worker’s death By James Thom Wednesday, November 27, 2002 - 07:00 Local News - Falconbridge Kidd Mine Site was fined $337,500 Tuesday in connection with the death of a Timmins man underground at the mine Sept. 2, 2000. The mining giant pleaded guilty to a charge of allowing work to be performed on a pressurized pipe under the Mining Act Tuesday in the Ontario Court of Justice. Court heard a Timmins man was part of a four man team working on an air pipeline underground at 10:20 a.m. at the main service ramp near the 5,400 level. Court heard the crew had closed down one set of pressure valves on the line but unbeknownst to them, there was a second set of valves which remained open and the line remained pressurized at 3,300 to 4,500 pounds per square inch. When the unidentified man lit a torch to work on the pipe, it exploded and the man suffered severe head injuries and died five days later in a Sudbury hospital. “It’s still difficult to understand how this happened,” said Kidd Mine site general manager Dan Gignac said after the court matter was concluded. “We pleaded guilty and are taking responsibility for it. “We are committed to improving our safety performance ... and have a taken a number of measures and actions to ensure it doesn’t happen again.” The Ontario Ministry of Labour and Kidd performed separate investigations into the accident.
Former Custer man killed by Journal staff MONTROSE, Colo. -- A former Custer man died in a sawmill accident Tuesday at a lumber mill in Montrose, Colo. James "Jim" Kury, 46, was apparently trying to free a jam in a conveyor system when a co-worker switched on the machine, according to Montrose County Undersheriff Dick Deines. The accident happened about 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Intermountain Resources lumber mill in Montrose. Deines said the machinery had jammed and a chain broke, coming loose from one of the gears. Sawmill workers shut down the line, and several of them left for lunch. Kury and another worker stayed to repair the chain and free the jam. After fixing the chain, the co-worker went back to the control room. "He didn't see James around and assumed James had also broken for lunch, because he couldn't see him," the undersheriff said. However, Kury had apparently gone back in to clear more debris. The worker turned the machine back on. It caught Kury's left arm and pulled him into a gear system of the conveyor. Deines said Kury's injuries we severe, and it appeared that he died quickly. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident. According to a story in the Montrose Daily Press, OSHA had fined Intermountain Resources $150,000 two years ago for 42 safety violations found in an April 2000 inspection. Company officials insisted that Tuesday's accident was an extraordinary event that can't be blamed on the plant's safety program. They said the 2000 violations were found during plant construction and were taken care of immediately. Kury was a veteran millwright who had worked at sawmills in Custer, Worland, Wyo., Auburn, Wash., Ashland, Mont., Price, Utah and Montrose. His obituary appears on Page C2.
Man Killed In Industrial Accident By Jay Warren (LOUISVILLE, November 27th, 2002, 1 p.m.) -- A man was killed Tuesday night in an industrial accident at the Bakery Chef on Westport Road. WAVE 3's Jay Warren has details. The man, whose identity was not immediately released, was a 23-year-old African immigrant, and was a temporary employee at the business. Around 8 p.m., he was reportedly cleaning a long, bathtub like mixer with an auger running through it and apparently thought he had turned it off when he had actually turned off another machine. As he was cleaning the mixer, it activated, and he was caught by the auger. Worthington Fire Department Assistant Chief Harry Cooke says it's standard operating procedure for workers to turn machines off with a key so that they're locked off. He says it's not known exactly what caused the deadly accident. "Somewhere along the way, the system failed, and the machine got turned on, and he was caught by the auger," Cook says. It took rescue crews several hours to free the man's body from the equipment. Bakery Chef makes ready-to-eat frozen pancakes and biscuits for fast food restaurants.
PA Worker Killed Cleaning Mill MONACA, Pa. — A man was killed while cleaning a stone grinding machine at a wallboard plant. Ryan Chlebowski, 26, of New Castle, was dead when emergency officials arrived at PF Environmental about 6:30 p.m. Monday. Wayne Tatalovich Jr., Beaver County's deputy coroner, said Chlebowski was cleaning a pug mill, which has twin augers that rotate inside a casing to grind stone. Chlebowski's father, who also works a the plant, discovered the accident, which occurred between 3 and 5 p.m. The pug mill was supposed to be turned off before cleaning, but police were unsure if that was done. "It looks like he either caught a shovel or his hand in the equipment," Tatalovich said. "He couldn't get out." Officials from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration were expected to investigate.
Trash Truck Accident Leaves D.C. Worker with Amputated Foot Washington - A trash truck employee is lucky to be alive this morning after being nearly crushed to death by the truck's trash compressor. D.C. Fire and Rescue spokesman Alan Etter says it happened around 8 a.m. in the 1500 block of 38th Street in Southeast. Etter says the 27-year-old man fell into the back of the truck. His right foot was partially amputated before the other workers could free him. The unidentified worker is in critical condition at the Washington Hospital Center. It's not clear if the man worked for a private trash company or the D.C. Department of Public Works. OSHA is investigating the incident.
Construction worker's arm caught in machine BY JACLYN O'MALLEY WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Arriving at a construction site Tuesday morning, rescue workers saw legs dangling from a machine. Rick Schinebarger, 29, had been pulled partway into an auger hopper about 10:14 a.m., said Ted Marcuzzo, paramedic supervisor. The accident happened on the site of the Omaha Convention Center and Arena, near 10th Street and Capitol Avenue. Schinebarger was listed in good condition Tuesday night at University Medical Center. Marcuzzo said a steel rod pierced Schinebarger's right forearm. He said it appeared that Schinebarger turned off the machine before he was pulled fully into it. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating, said area director Ben Bare. He said construction work has one of the highest risks for injury and illness. Marcuzzo gave this account of the accident: Schinebarger was trying to unclog an auger hopper. In his left hand, he held a control mechanism for the machine. He was using his right hand to unclog the hopper. His arm got tangled, and he shut off the machine. The sel rods in the hopper that are used to break up insulation, pierced his forearm. Rescue workers cut the machine apart around Schinebarger's arm. He was taken from the scene with the rod sticking out of his forearm.
UPDATE, Brownsville plant fined after worker's death BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Federal regulators have fined Titan Tire Corp. more than $20,000 in connection to an employee's death in September. The Brownsville tire manufacturing plant had insufficient safety protocol when the man died, according to a U.S. Department of Labor agency inspection filed Thursday. Javier Equina, a mechanic at the manufacturing company's plant in Brownsville, "was struck by a 24-inch pipe wrench when the press he was working on was unexpectedly energized," the report states. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's inspection cited four mostly procedural "serious" violations at the local plant and fined Titan Tire $21,000. The plant's new operations manager, John LeGrand, told The Brownsville Herald that he had not received notification of the violations, adding that it is normal procedure for OSHA to conduct an inspection after the death of an employee. An accident investigation initiated Sept. 23 found four serious violations of failing to have proper training and procedures in place that would cut off energy sources to machinery that posed a significant risk to employees. OSHA area director John Giefer, in Corpus Christi, said standards exist "that require employers to have a plan in place to neutralize or de-energize potential energy sources where an employee could be injured if the work he is doing has placed him in a danger zone." Three of the four counts were accompanied by the maximum possible fine of $7,000, for a total of $21,000. Giefer said Titan has 15 days from the receipt of the citation to appeal the decision. Titan can either ask for an informal conference or contest the citation by disclosing any additional information that may have been missed in the inspection. Titan, owned by Quincy, Ill.-based Titan International Inc., also owes an additional $6,608 in back-fines related to previous inspection violations found in a routine inspection in February. The unpaid fine was sent to a debt collection agency in July.
UPDATE, SPI appeals fine in mill worker's death November 1, 2002 By AMY LINDBLOM Sierra Pacific Industries is appealing a $30,000 fine levied after the death of a worker at the firm's Chinese Camp mill. The timber-industry giant was fined by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health Administration after Jose Olvera, 25, of Sonora, was crushed to death while trying to clear a jam on a lumber stacking machine he was operating Jan. 22. Cal-OSHA investigated the accident and caseworkers determined SPI had committed two "serious" safety violations that led to Olvera's death. The first citation given was for failing to properly block or lock out a piece of equipment so it wouldn't unexpectedly move during a malfunction. For this, SPI was fined $7,650. The second citation was for failing to have a written procedure for locking down a piece of equipment during a malfunction. Cal-OSHA levied a $22,500 fine. More than the matter of money, SPI is challenging the ruling because company officials want all of the facts of the case to be brought before an administrative law judge, said Ed Bond, SPI spokesman at the company's headquarters in Anderson. Bond declined to comment further. Because of the appeal, the case is still considered open. Since 1998, SPI has been cited six times for accidents at either its Standard or Chinese Camp mills, Cal-OSHA documents show. But because SPI is a huge employer with facilities in many locations, Cal-OSHA does not consider SPI to be an "egregious safety violator," said Dean Fryer, Cal-OSHA spokesman. Of SPI's five other accidents at Tuolumne County mills, the company appealed Cal-OSHA rulings in three of the cases and was successful in getting the fines reduced, said Fryer. Cal-OSHA's accident report indicated Olvera was the sole operator of a lumber stacker machine — the last step in a string of milling operations each piece of wood goes through. "If the stacker goes down, the mill is backed up and stops," the report said. "It is essential that his station continue running to prevent backlog at other locations."
UPDATE, Fingers lost in machine Food Packaging Ltd of Chesterton, Cambridge have been fined a total of £14,000 with £2,000 costs for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations in the circumstances of an accident to an employee who sustained a serious hand injury. Last December employee Rona Harris lost two fingers attempting to unblock a corner-rounding machine when a guillotine came down on her hand. Ms Harris was working at the machine without the benefit of a risk assessment. The company had now invested additional resources on equipment and on independent health and safety advice.
Propane tank ignites BY GREG TUTTLE AND BECKY SHAY Of The Gazette Staff A propane-tank fire at a southwest Billings business forced the evacuation of surrounding businesses and an elementary school and shut down Interstate 90 for about an hour before fire crews extinguished the blaze. The fire at V-1 Propane, 6650 S. Frontage Road, was reported at 1:24 p.m. when vapors from a 2,400-gallon propane tank, which was being worked on inside the building, ignited. Flames spread throughout the building, which was heavily damaged. No one was seriously injured, but traffic was delayed and students at nearby Elysian Elementary School, about one-half mile away, were among those evacuated as a precaution. Billings Fire Marshal Frank Odermann said the evacuation included homes and business within 1,500 feet of the burning propane tank. Billings fire investigators continue to investigate the fire and had not determined a cause late Tuesday. The tank that caught fire and vented flaming gas for more than an hour contained about 600 gallons of propane, Odermann said. "The size of that tank itself is a concern," Odermann said. Other propane tanks were outside the building, but none of those ignited. Fire crews were able to begin putting out the fire at about 3 p.m. when they determined that the burning propane tank no longer posed a danger. "The real danger early on is not knowing how many other tanks are contained in that building," Odermann said. The danger of propane tank fires is the possibility of an explosion, called a "blevy," Odermann said. Blevy stands for "boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion," said Battalion Chief Carl Zabrocki. A blevy occurs when the gas inside the tank ignites and ruptures the tank, causing a huge fireball and sending metal flying for great distances. "We'd rather see that tank venting than blevy," Odermann said. "Propane expands at a tremendous rate, so if that propane gas would get out of the container, you'd have a huge area covered by it," Zabrocki said. "It would have been a giant fireball. At 1,500 feet, we were pushing the realm of not going far enough away." Odermann said reports indicate that a crew was working on the propane tank, which was on a semi truck parked inside the building. The workers told fire officials they were replacing a valve when they noticed vapors coming from the tank. The vapors ignited from an unknown cause, Odermann said. Zabrocki said one man was "tossed around a little" and his beard was singed. The man was taken for medical evaluation but later returned to the scene of the fire, he said. Roads nearby were blocked off and officials closed Interstate 90 between the King Avenue West and Zoo Drive exits. The highway reopened at about 3 p.m. Montana Rail Link temporarily shut down the stretch of its train tracks that run parallel to Interstate 90. Zabrocki said the Fire Department shut down traffic rather than "taking a gamble" on safety. "If we would have had the failure (of the tank), we would have had shock waves and fireballs way into the interstate," Zabrocki said. Also, the snow made driving conditions slick and because people tend to look at fire scenes, the chance for wrecks was increased. Spectacular flames were visible as the burning gas shot up through the building. "They must have been 100 foot high," said Bob Sherman, who was working across the highway on Hesper Road. Spectators stopped along Hesper Road, where several businesses were evacuated for a short time. Zabrocki said firefighters used unmanned hose holders and positioned their equipment as far away as possible. A hose holder is a big nozzle on a stand, he said. "We can basically set up, aim and then get back and it works by itself," Zabrocki said. Crews were only able to use one holder because of limited water supply, Zabrocki said. Crews did some "creative tender shuttling" to be able to continue to spray water on the tank. "It worked very well, but it took some firefighters doing their job very quickly and very efficiently to make it work," he said. Zabrocki made a conservative estimate that crews used 30,000 gallons of water on the fire. Firefighters intentionally let the propane in the tank burn off while keeping the tank cool, which allowed the gas to vent with less chance of the tank exploding. The strategy boiled down to "cool the tank and keep your eyes open," he said. "We want it (the gas) to escape, but we don't want it to escape really quickly," Zabrocki said. Deputy Fire Marshal Tim Stavnes said the tank vented until about 2:45, and engine companies were then able to put out the building fire. A small fire in the "vessel plumbing" was allowed to burn, with a hose cooling it, until it ran out of propane and the fire went out about 6:20 p.m., he said. The initial rough estimate of loss was $225,000 according toV-1 Propane's owner and area manager, Stavnes said. The Montana Highway Patrol, Yellowstone County Sheriff's Department, Billings Police Department, utility companies, crews from Billings Logan International Airport and one of the water tenders from the airport all helped with controlling the scene. The Fire Department temporarily opened its emergency command center at Station No. 1, near downtown, so Zabrocki and other leaders could easily order needed resources, he said. Zabrocki said the fire was strategically difficult to fight, but crews "worked extremely well under pressure." "It was a textbook exercise," Zabrocki said. "It's just that you pray that all of your training doesn't have to get used and today it all got used."
Man whose hand was severed to receive $1.75M Tuesday, October 29, 2002 A former Paterson man who suffered a severed hand while working at a Coca-Cola plant will receive a $1.75 million settlement of a four-year-old lawsuit. John Betancourth, 50, whose hand was reattached following the 1996 accident, plans to use the money to move his wife and three children to Florida, his lawyer said Monday. "He's very happy and very relieved,'' said Hawthorne attorney Charles Ingenito. Betancourth was injured at a Queens factory while repairing a depalletizer - a machine that lifts items off wooden pallets. A portion of the machine fell on him and sliced through his right arm at the wrist, Ingenito said. He sued the Coca-Cola Co. and the manufacturer of the machine in state Superior Court in Passaic County in 1998. The case was moved to U.S. District Court in the Bronx, and Coca-Cola was eventually dropped as a defendant. Auto Quip, the Oklahoma-based machine manufacturer, will pay Betancourth $1 million in the next few days and the remainder of the settlement in February, Ingenito said. Betancourth currently lives in Queens. His use of his injured hand is limited, Ingenito said.
Bailer traps, kills Rumpke employee Glen E. Giffin, 32, of Circleville, died Friday afternoon following an accident at the Rumpke Recycling Center in Circleville. According to Pickaway Sheriff reports, Giffin was working inside a bailer when a pipe collapsed, trapping him inside. Rescue units from Williamsport Fire Department, Pickaway Plains, and Circleville Rescue freed Giffin from the machine but he was pronounced dead on the scene. The accidental death is still under investigation by the Pickaway County Sheriff's Office and OSHA.
Worker Crushed At Seaport Manufacturing Plant SEABROOK, N.H. -- A worker at a Seabrook manufacturing plant was hospitalized after he was crushed by a large machine Monday morning. The 26-year-old Hampton, N.H., man works at the Venture Corp. on Route 1, which manufactures plastic auto parts. Workers said that the man was operating a large press that makes bumpers for pick up trucks. Witnesses said the man was inside the press, pulling out a bumper, when the machine slammed shut and crushed him. Employees said the man had worked at the plant for several years. "We arrived on scene and found a 26-year-old male with a crush injury," paramedic Marc Bibaud said. "It took them some time to get him out. As soon as we got him, we began aggressive care on scene and throughout transport." The man was flown to Boston Medical Center where he was listed in stable condition. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident.
UPDATE, Wood industry fined $125,000 in connection with employee death Nelia Raposo October 10, 2002 News - Shelburne Wood Processing Limited was fined $125,000 last month in connection with the workplace death of employee Matthew Chrichton. The 19-year-old Grand Valley resident was killed on June 30, 2000 at the small wood treatment facility in Shelburne, while training another employee. He was showing the trainee how to load a roll of strapping onto the dispenser of a strapping machine (a machine which wraps metal strapping around a bundle of lumber planks to hold the planks together) when the machine’s platen (a flat metal plate) came down. Chrichton had placed his head between a bundle of planks and the platen to check why the bundle wasn’t moving. At the Sept. 27 hearing at Orangeville’s Ontario Court of Justice, the wood processing plant’s president Tim Seaman told Justice of the Peace Wendy Casey that it was especially hard for him knowing that an employee died while on the job at the family-run business his father started. In a telephone interview, plant controller David Ambridge said, “we have about 0 to 50 employees and half of them are still here (from when Chrichton worked there) and they remember Matthew as a bright, energetic young man. It’s always difficult when you lose someone.” A Ministry of Labour investigation found the strapping machine’s control mechanisms had not been locked out. Shelburne Wood Processing Limited pleaded guilty to failing, as an employer, to ensure that control switches or other control mechanisms, including the hydraulic power of the strapping machine, were locked out and that other effective precautions necessary to prevent any starting were taken when the starting of a machine, device or thing may endanger a worker’s safety, as required by Section 76 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Since the fatal accident, Ambridge said that the primary thing the company has done is insist all six of the people on its health and safety committee are certified under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Ambridge also said that significant funds have been spent training all employees on locking out electricity and on upgrading equipment with “extensive guarding” in an effort to bring the plant’s safety features to date. “Clearly there’s much greater awareness (at the plant),” Ambridge said. “It’s sad that something like this needs to happen before something gets done.” Chrichton’s family could not be reached at press time.
UPDATE, Factory fined after machine traps worker Oct 10 2002 By Elwyn Roberts A NORTH Wales factory was fined £17,000 yesterday following an accident in which a worker suffered severe arm injuries. Hefin Wyn Jones, 30, from Groeslon, near Caernarfon, was trapped for 10 minutes in a machine at North Wales Tissue Ltd in September last year. Flintshire magistrates, sitting at Mold, heard how Mr Jones was released by colleagues and underwent a six hour operation at the Countess of Chester Hospital. He was in hospital for 20 days, he could not drive for months and had been treated by a plastic surgeon and orthopaedic consultant, magistrates were told. Mr Jones was still in pain, had effectively lost the use of the arm, and he could not grip because he only had the use of his index finger and his thumb, the court heard. He was in court yesterday to hear the company, from Oakenholt, Flint, being fined. The paper tissue manufacturer was also ordered to pay £2,000 prosecution costs. After the hearing, Mr Jones said he was glad it was over, adding: "I am awaiting further surgery and I have been told the arm is unlikely to improve much more without more operations." He said he had instructed solicitors to sue the company for compensation. Court chairman Lady Janet Jones said the company had failed to take action over a risk assessment which had earlier identified a hazard over access to the paper making machine. The court heard at the time the machine was in the process of being commissioned by Italian engineers and the magistrates said the company had failed to control the activities of the contractors on site. There was no system in place to prevent the over-riding of an interlocking system on the gates of the perimeter fence to the machine, which meant it could be operated with the gates open. A previous incident, which also involved contractors on site, should have given the company warning that action needed to be taken to make the site safer for its employees, she said. "We feel that the company has fallen below the standard that could be reasonably expected of them to protect their employees," Lady Jones said. "We have also taken into account that Mr Jones suffered a serious and long term injury." But she added compensation for such a serious and complex injury was best left to the civil court. The company changed its plea and admitted a health and safety at work charge. Earlier this year North Wales Tissue Ltd - which is about to expand its workforce from 80 to about 300 - was fined £7,000 with £12,000 costs after it was convicted of a health and safety charge after a man was severely hurt when he was trapped under a beam which fell from an overhead crane. Magistrates heard the company had been taken over by the international Swedish company SCA, which was planning to invest in two finishing plants at Flint that would mean a substantial jobs boost.
Both feet of recycling yard worker amputated By Andrea Cavanaugh, October 9, 2002 The feet of a recycling yard worker were severed Tuesday morning in Saticoy when the man became entangled in a machine used to compact cardboard. The 28-year-old man, whose name was not released, was taken to Ventura County Medical Center after the 11:15 a.m. accident and was later transferred to Los Angeles County USC Medical Center. He was listed in serious condition, USCMC spokeswoman Adelaida De La Cerda said. Surgeons were evaluating the victim late Tuesday to see if his feet could be reattached, De La Cerda said. Firefighters were called to Paradise Industries, in the 1500 block of Lirio Avenue, by co-workers who witnessed the accident. A preliminary investigation indicates the man might have stepped into the machine after it became clogged with materials, said Dean Fryer, a spokesman with the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration. "It appears the cardboard-crushing machine had jammed," Fryer said. "He was trying to clear it." The man had already been freed from the machine when firefighters arrived, said Don McPherson, a battalion chief with the Ventura County Fire Department. Although it is possible to climb into the machine while it is operating, "you obviously shouldn't be inside it," McPherson said. The man was conscious and talking to paramedics as they tried to control the bleeding, he said. A man who identified himself as the owner of Paradise Recycling declined to comment on the accident.
UPDATE, Man who lost leg in workplace accident files lawsuit VALPARAISO, Ind.- A man who lost his right leg after it was crushed inside heavy machinery has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $50 million in damages. Jordan Moore, 23, lost his leg when it was caught in a corrugating machine at the Jet Corr plant near Valparaiso. The lawsuit filed last week in Porter Superior Court said Jordan was conscious and trapped in the machine for more than an hour as paramedics and co-workers worked to free his crushed and shredded leg. Moore's attorney, Kenneth J. Allen, said Friday that Moore is recuperating from another surgery caused by sores from his prosthetic leg. "Jordan will never recover what he has lost, but perhaps we can compel some safety changes through a jury verdict," Allen said. After the March 10, 2001, accident, plant supervisor Jerome Wilson told police Moore had gotten up on the top of the conveyer belt as a piece of cardboard had become jammed. He was trying to free it when his leg became caught. Wilson said Moore should not have been up on the machine. The lawsuit was filed against the German manufacturer of the equipment, BHS Corrugated Maschinen und Anlagenbau, GmbH; its American subsidiary, BHS Corrugated North America Inc. based in Baltimore, Md.; and the contractor that installed the machinery, Hunter Corp. of Portage. The defendants could not be reached for comment. Phone messages were left Friday and Saturday at Hunter Corp.'s Portage office. A woman who answered the phone at BHS Corrugated in Baltimore said no one was available to comment Friday. A message was left at BHS Corrugated on Saturday. Information from: Merrillville Post-Tribune
Bakery worker's hand is injured by machine HARRISON - A 56-year-old man who works at a bakery caught one of his hands in the gears of a machine used to make bread yesterday afternoon, officials said. The incident occurred at 12:04 p.m., at Harrison Baking Co., at 840 Jersey St., according to Fire Capt. Jim Woods. When emergency personnel arrived at the scene, Woods said, employees of the bakery had already shut off the power to the machine that had trapped the man's hand. Woods said the man had his hand caught in the gears of a conveyor, and that the conveyor had to be backed up manually with wrenches to remove the hand. He was taken to the Trauma Center at University Hospital, Newark. "The patient was obviously in pain, but he was conscious and alert the whole time," Woods said, adding that it took about 10 minutes to remove his hand from the machine. Woods would not identify the victim, but said he is a resident of Harrison. Officials at University Hospital could not comment on the condition of the man.
UPDATE, Worker killed in rollercoaster horror A WORKER killed when he was hit by a rollercoaster had not heard a colleague's shouted warning, an inquest jury heard. Maintenance engineer Harry Mathews, 59, had been greasing the track after earlier problems with the Gauntlet ride at the Camelot theme park at Charnock Richard, near Chorley. A pathologist told the inquest at Preston that his injuries were the most serious she had seen in her 20 years' experience. The Health and Safety Executive is still investigating the accident, which happened in October last year. Mr Mathews, from Merton Road, Highfield, Wigan, described as a skilled, conscientious engineer, had been putting diesel on the track after the ride got stuck earlier in the day. Witnesses said he appeared to be leaning over the track when he was struck. Colleague Andrew Carter said: "I shouted for him to move but he didn't hear me. It came down the loop before hitting him. Coroner Howard McCann, recording a misadventure verdict, said: "Maybe he thought he was okay for a little while and misjudged it."
UPDATE, Construction worker killed when loader bucket falls Jim Adams A construction worker was killed and another was injured in an accident while they were working on a loader in Stillwater, police said. David P. Luedeke, 27, of New Scandia Township, was killed Tuesday afternoon when the loader's bucket dropped on him while he was trying to repair a leaky hydraulic pressure line, police Sgt. David Roettger said. Troy D. Skogen, 34, of Lino Lakes, also was injured by the falling bucket. He was treated at Lakeview Memorial Hospital in Stillwater and released, officials said. The men worked for M.A. Raleigh Trucking. They were moving fill at a construction site in the 100 block of E. Olive St., Roettger said.
UPDATE, Duke Energy to pay fine on fatal blast By Dawn Marks, The Oklahoman GUYMON -- A gas company has agreed to pay a $10,000 fine for a March explosion that killed an employee in Texas County. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration reached a settlement with the company Tuesday, area director Jim Brown said. The March 6 explosion at the Duke Energy natural gas compression plant near Straight in Texas County killed one employee and hurt another worker. Andy Hanson, of Hooker died from the injuries he received in the explosion and fellow employee Corey Rose was severely injured. About 500 feet of the 600-foot building remained as a structural skeleton, according to fire department reports. "We found that in this case, the training was inadequate and the employee did not lock out the source of energy," Brown said. "That appears to be the cause of the fire." Duke Energy had just acquired the Texas County site about a week before the fire, he said. The initial citation, issued Aug. 27, stated that the company did not offer adequate training, did not have certification of training and an employee failed to lock out the system. At that time, the agency recommended $15,000 in fines, he said. However, the company had agreed to the $10,000 settlement, and Brown was awaiting the signed agreement Tuesday. Brown said the agency requires employees to turn off a power source when doing maintenance, and lock it off so another employee cannot turn it back on inadvertently. Had the company chosen to appeal, the issue would have gone before an administrative law judge. Because the company has agreed to the settlement and has taken measures to avoid the problem in the future, the agency is satisfied, Brown said. Company representatives could not be reached for comment.
Man Dies After Getting Caught In Concrete Machine; Authorities Investigating Cause Of Accident ORLANDO, Fla. -- A 53-year-old man was killed Wednesday after getting caught in a machine that makes concrete blocks, according to Local 6 News. Local 6 News reported that the co-owner of A-1 Block Manufacturing was performing some overnight repairs in the building located Division Street when the accident happened. The worker was dead when paramedics arrived at the scene, Local 6 News reported. Local 6 News reported that a police chaplain is at the company consoling workers and family members. Authorities are investigating the cause of the accident. Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Police identify man killed while operating rock crusher in N.B. SUSSEX, N.B. (CP) -- RCMP have released the name of a man killed in an industrial accident last Friday. Police say Micheal Allan McCrea, 21, of Sussex, was killed while operating a rock crusher at a gravel pit on Route 10. The man was attending to a mechanical breakdown when the crusher exploded. The Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission is investigating the incident.
TRAPPED WORKER DIES IN HORROR ACCIDENT Sep 21 2002 A FARM worker died yesterday after getting his arm trapped in a potato harvester. The 30-year-old man had been working with the machine in a field when the horrific accident happened. Emergency crews raced to Balkaithly Farm at Dunino, near St Andrews in Fife, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Health and Safety Executive will launch an inquiry into the tragedy. Farm owner Stewart Ballantyne described the incident as "tragic". However, he said that he could not comment further while the investigation was continuing. Don Cameron, of the Scottish Ambulance Service, said it was only when the paramedics arrived at the farm that the seriousness of the man's condition emerged. He said: "When the crew arrived and assessed the situation, they required a trauma team from Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. "The trauma team were then dispatched to the job. Unfortunately, they pronounced the man dead at the scene." A police spokesman said no details about the dead man, who was understood to live locally, would be released until his family had been informed.
Firm fined $45,000 for worker's death; Teen's mother calls sentence a `slap on the wrist' Kate Harries Ontario reporter A plastics recycling firm and its owner have been fined $45,000 for an accident in which a 19-year-old man was pulled into a conveyor and crushed to death. The fine is like "a slap on the wrist," Jared Dietrich's mother Brenda said yesterday in an interview from her home in Tilbury, a town of 8,000 between Windsor and Chatham. "There's no deterrent there." Jan. 7, 1999 was just the second day on the job for Jared at the Tilbury Plastics plant. He was working alone when the machine, which did not have a proper guard on it, snagged him. The only other employee was outside the building directing a truck. In provincial court on Wednesday, Mr. Justice Bruce Thomas imposed a fine of $35,000 against the plant's corporate owner Adomako and Associates, and $10,000 against owner Kofi Adomako in his capacity as supervisor, for failing to exercise due diligence in protecting a worker. The court was told the company has fallen on hard times, in part due to the prosecution under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. "He's pleading poverty, but I'm thinking about Jared pleading to get out of that machine," said Brenda Dietrich, adding she believes jail time and a more substantial fine would have been appropriate. "I'm very disappointed," she said, suggesting employers may now be tempted to take a chance on faulty equipment because it would cost more than $45,000 to fix or replace it. Adomako could not be reached for comment, but his lawyer Michael Gordner said the judge followed the law. "We're very sad that there was a loss of life, and no money can make up for that," he said, adding the fine is substantial considering Adomako's circumstances.
PORK PIE WORKER LOSES FINGERTIPS BY JAMES KAY Pork Farms was fined £3,000 after an employee's finger tips were sliced off in machinery. Michael Loscalzo was making pork pies when he reached into a machine at the company's factory in Queen's Drive, Nottingham. A metal plate cut off the ends of the middle and ring fingers on his right hand. Mr Loscalzo, 38, of Hemingway Close, Carlton, was taken to hospital but surgeons could not re-attach the tips. This week, magistrates heard the machine Mr Loscalzo was working on did not have adequate safety guards. FW Farnsworth Ltd, which trades as Pork Farms as part of the Northern Foods group, pleading guilty to breaking the Provision and Use of Work Regulations 1998. Frances Bailey, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, said Mr Loscalzo, a line leader who has worked for Pork Farms since 1981, had been under pressure on the day of the accident last November because he was working alongside inexperienced agency staff. He reached into the machine to grab some of the meat mixture used to make a 1lb 14oz 'celbration pie', but his fingers were caught by a sliding plate. Mrs Bailey said: "He was taken to hospital but they were unable to save his fingertips and he was off work for three months. He is still having problems and may need a further operation for tendon damage." She told Nottingham Magistrates Court that the machine - a Medimat - had been omitted from a risk assessment because it had been in storage at the time. Steven Edmonds, defending, said the company, which employs about 650 people in Nottingham, did not contest that the machine had inadequate guarding. "Had it been in the risk assessment, a tunnel guard would have been fitted," he said. The day after the accident a tunnel guard was fitted. All the machines have since undergone new risk assessments. Mr Edmonds said the company had a good safety record and prided itself on keeping its employees safe. "It's a pity this incident has blemished what has been a trend toward absolute safety," he said. Magistrate Freda Wallwork fined the company £3,000 plus £1,778 costs. She said: "This accident should never have happened. However, the company has demonstrated its good record concerning health and safety." Speaking after the hearing, Mr Loscalzo said he had been well treated by Pork Farms and was happy to continue working there. Describing the accident, he said: "I put my hand in to collect the meat. I heard a crunching noise and realised I had lost my fingertips. I just held my arm up and a mate of mine got my fingertips out. "They were put in a plastic bag and taken to the QMC with me. I couldn't feel anything because of the shock."
State investigating death at fabric mill; Maintenance worker was electrocuted while working on machine GREG LACOUR, Staff Writer MORGANTON - The N.C. Labor Department is investigating the electrocution of a maintenance worker Monday at Viscotec Automotive Products LLC, a 2-month-old textile mill. Douglas Hoover, 46, of Rutherford College was electrocuted around 11:30 a.m. while he replaced a gear inside a machine used to make fabrics for car interiors, said Department of Public Safety Sgt. Gary Massey. Three of Hoover's co-workers performed CPR, and officers and emergency workers arrived within minutes; paramedics tried to revive him with a defibrillator, Massey said. But Hoover was pronounced dead at Grace Hospital at 12:19 p.m. "It's terrible," said Bill Mason, a product director at the plant. "I tell you, it's like a member of your family passed away." Public Safety closed its investigation Tuesday without filing charges and ruled the death accidental, Massey said. But the Department of Labor sent investigators Tuesday to Viscotec to examine "what maintenance procedures they have to ensure equipment is safe before workers begin working on it," said department spokesman Juan Santos. Such investigations are standard when a worker dies in an industrial accident and usually take about two weeks, Santos said. If it finds the company used improper procedures, the department could issue a citation, which carries a maximum $7,000 fine, and force the company to fix the problem. Mason wouldn't specify Tuesday what piece of equipment Hoover was working on or how it works, saying that information is exclusive to Viscotec. He did say Hoover was part of a three-worker staff responsible for the upkeep of equipment. "Mr. Hoover was a very unique individual, a very helpful person. I don't know if I could say enough good things about this gentleman," Mason said. "He was friendly, easygoing, willing to do anything for anybody. ... He performed his job duties above expectations. "We're grieving over it, too," he said, choking up. "Our hearts go out to his family." Funeral arrangements were incomplete Tuesday. Viscotec management will shut the plant down temporarily to allow employees to attend services, Mason said. Viscotec, owned by Seiren Co. Ltd. of Fukui, Japan, manufactures car-seat fabric, particularly for Japanese car companies with plants in the South. Viscotec is Seiren's only automotive-fabric plant in the United States. Morganton officials, hit several times in recent months by closings and layoffs at textile mills, were thrilled at Viscotec's grand opening in late July. The plant, which occupies a former soft-drink distribution center on East Union Street, employs about 65 and eventually will employ about 250, Mason said.
Worker died cleaning machine which should have been switched off Eternit UK, a concrete manufacturing company from Royston, Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty and was fined £40,000 with costs of £21,000, at Cambridge Crown Court for failing to meet the requirements of health and safety law in respect of the accidental death of one its workers in March last year. Ciro Dario, 35, was cleaning a machine during a night shift when he accessed dangerous moving parts of it and was drawn in and killed almost instantly, sustaining horrific head injuries. Eternit did not operate down time on the concrete machines and its management was unaware of the particular system of work employed by the cleaners, and the opportunity for prevention was therefore lost. Pascal Bates for the prosecution said: "The deceased was able to gain access in an area which he should have been prevented from having access to. Had there been a down time, the job of cleaning under the machine, while it was running, would not have been necessary."
UPDATE, Company fined for crush death A Hertfordshire company has been fined £40,000 after a worker was dragged into a 400-tonne machine and killed. The machine, used in the manufacture of concrete, was still operating when father-of-two Ciro Dario, 35, was pulled into it. The prosecution claimed that Royston-based concrete roofing company, Eternit UK, did not employ sufficient staff to allow the machines to be switched off. The firm, which admitted breaching safety regulations, was also ordered to pay costs of £21,000. Mr Dario was working the night shift on 30 March, 2001, when he started cleaning the machine. Cambridge Crown Court was told a colleague suddenly heard him scream as he was pulled under the machine. A post mortem examination showed he suffered multiple fractures to his skull and that he had clearly died "very rapidly". Pascal Bates, prosecuting, told the court: "Mr Dario suffered horrific injuries. "He must have been badly trapped between moving parts of the machine. "The deceased was able to gain access in an area which he should have been prevented from having access to." Mr Bates said the company, which was founded in 1926 and has 350 employees, kept machinery running all day but did not have the staff to maintain them. "Had there been a down time, the job of cleaning under the machine, while it was running, would not have been necessary," he said. James Ageros, for Eternit, said that if managers had been aware of their staff's cleaning practices, the accident would not have happened. He described the death of Mr Dario, who was regarded as a conscientious worker, as senseless. Judge Isobell Plumsted fined the company after hearing safety procedures had been changed and there was no risk of the accident happening again.
UPDATE, Tulsa Manufacturing Firm's Failure to Implement Safety and Health Standards Brings OSHA Citations, Penalties OKLAHOMA CITY -- Failure to place guards on power transmission shafts and other machines has prompted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue citations and fine Sage Well Services, Inc. in Encinal, Texas, $86,100. An oil and gas exploration company headquartered in Encinal, Sage Well Services, which employs about 205 workers, was cited with one willful and 11 serious safety violations following an OSHA inspection that began March 14 in response to a complaint an employee was injured while lubricating an unguarded shaft. Safe Well Services was cited for one alleged willful violation for failing to guard power transmission shafts and other machines. A willful violation is one in which there is evidence of an intentional violation of the OSHA Act or plain indifference to its requirements. The 11 alleged serious violations were for failing to properly install emergency escape lines, uncovered floor holes, lack of guardrails on platforms, damaged electrical cords, ungrounded portable equipment and failure to train employees properly. A serious violation involves a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew or should have known of the hazard. Employers or workers who have questions concerning safety and health may contact the OSHA Corpus Christi area office at (361) 888-3420 or contact OSHA's toll free hotline number at 1-800-321-6742 to report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers. Sage Well Services has 15 working days from receipt of the citations to either comply, request an informal conference with the Corpus Christi OSHA area director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
U.S. Gauge worker is electrocuted By Patrick Lester, Staff Writer After the accident, the plant's emergency response team began performing CPR on the victim. He died at Grand View Hospital. SELLERSVILLE - A longtime U.S. Gauge employee was electrocuted while working inside the Clymer Avenue plant Thursday afternoon, a company official said. E. LeRoy Kulp, was doing maintenance work inside the plant when he was accidentally shocked, according to spokesman Jim McKinley. Medics rushed Kulp to Grand View Hospital in West Rockhill where he was pronounced dead about an hour after the 3 p.m. accident. It was the first fatal accident at the Clymer Avenue plant, a fixture in the borough for decades, according to McKinley. "The company is saddened by the loss of a colleague and extends its deepest sympathy to the Kulp family," he said, reading from a statement issued by the firm. Kulp, who had been working as a millright in the plant's tube mill, was a U.S. Gauge employee since at least 1963, McKinley said. U.S. Gauge, a local division of Ametek, produces components for gauges and aerospace equipment. The local plant employs about 146 people. Kulp was doing work on a maintenance belt when the accident happened. The plant's emergency response team immediately began performing CPR on him until medical personnel arrived, McKinley said. Pennridge Regional police said Kulp was alive when medics arrived, but released few other details on the accident Thursday. McKinley said members of the company's employee assistance program would be made available to Kulp's family today. "They will be on site at Sellersville (today) to help other colleagues deal with the after effects of this tragic accident," he said. The cause of the accident is under investigation. Pennridge Regional police are investigating. "There will be an investigation, certainly, by us," McKinley said.
Fertilizer plant workers burned in acid spill PASCAGOULA (AP) -- Three workers at the Mississippi Phosphates plant in Pascagoula were burned Friday by a release of sulfuric acid, company officials said. The workers, whose names were not released, were trying to repair a pump in the company's sulfuric acid plant when the acid was released through pressure, said Melinda Hood, company spokeswoman. "There was only a small amount (of acid) released and there was no environmental impact," Hood said. The three workers were taken by ambulance to the South Alabama Burn Center in Mobile, Ala., and treated for first and second degree burns. Hood said the injuries were not life-threatening. She said a safety investigation is under way. "We hope to have more details at a later time," she said. Mississippi Phosphates manufactures DAP fertilizer, a phosphorus nutrient used in plant growth. The sulfuric acid is used in an intermediary step that eventually produces the fertilizer.
UPDATE, Trapped dad died of crush injury AN inquest into the death of a father who died after being trapped in machinery at his work has been opened and adjourned. David Lord, 36, had been working at Janesville Products, Spring Gardens Mill, Spring Gardens Mill, Colne, when he became trapped in rollers at 4.50pm on Tuesday. He died an hour later in Burnley General Hospital. It is not clear if he was cleaning or repairing the machinery when the accident happened. An inquest into the death was opened by Acting East Lancashire Coroner Richard Taylor yesterday and adjourned so that an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive and Lancashire Police could be concluded. A post mortem examination has been carried out by a Home Office pathologist who gave the cause of death as compression of the chest. David lived with his second wife Amanda in North Valley Road, Colne, and their four-year-old daughter Caitlin. He also has a stepson Ian, 18, and a son Paul, 14, from his previous marriage to Sue. They are currently on holiday in Sri Lanka. He also has a brother Philip, 34. Earlier this week, his devastated parents Joyce and Ian Lord, of Queensway, Newchurch, Rossendale, told how David was about to leave the factory for a new office job. David attended Newchurch CE School and Fearns High School, Stacksteads. Before moving to Colne he lived in Hall Carr, Rawtenstall. They described David as a quiet man who enjoyed fishing. The Health and Safety Executive is investigating the incident and police scenes of crime officers have also been at the mill and compiled a report.
UPDATE, Company fined after machine fall By Simon Dudman A Coventry telecommunications company has been fined £7,500 and ordered to pay £2,000 compensation after a worker climbed inside a punch press machine to free a sheet of metal and fell. The man suffered "serious" bruising to his head, ribs and legs and had to take six weeks off work to recover from his injuries. The incident happened on February 19 of this year at the premises of Viasystems EMSUK Ltd, in Uxbridge Avenue, Copsewood, Coventry. The company, formerly part of the Marconi group and bought by Viasystems in 2000, was charged under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 with failing to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of its employees. The company, which employs about 200 people, pleaded guilty. It was also ordered to pay £3,140 court costs. Munera Sidat, prosecuting for the HSE, told the court how the worker had at first tried to free the sheet by climbing up a set of mobile ladders, reaching in with a pole. When this attempt failed, he climbed over a 6ft 5 in safety fence and into the machine. Miss Sidat said: "He was in the machine and was kicking the sheet of metal which was jammed. He had one foot on the sheet and was kicking it with the other when the machine suddenly moved and he fell. "The machine was never designed for people to climb into, yet this had become common practice by the operators and the ladders and pole were next to the machine for such incidents. "No risk assessment was carried out for this practice, which shows a major flaw in the management process." David Egar, in mitigation for Viasystems, told the court that the company was currently in financial difficulty following a downturn in the market and asked magistrates to consider this when determining a fine. He also told the court the machine had not been used since the incident and full health and safety training had been carried out by all employees following the accident. He said Viasystems put health and safety at the top of its business agenda but did not fully appreciate the risk of the action described in court. "They are guilty of simply not being aware, rather than ignoring a dangerous practice", he said.
Screven plant worker injured plant worker injured By:, Special to the Herald August 30, 2002 A King America employee went to the hospital Thursday after he was seriously hurt when he apparently was caught in machinery at the plant. A King America employee went to the hospital Thursday after he was seriously hurt when he apparently was caught in machinery at the plant. A Screven County Emergency Management Service spokesman said Roderick Robbins was taken to East Georgia Emergency Medical Center after the accident, which occurred at about 9 a.m. The spokesman said Robbins' shoulder apparently became caught in heavy machinery at the textile plant and it appeared his hand was injured when he tried to free the shoulder from the machine. No further details were available.
Area man dies in work-related accident A long-time employee of McKenzie Forest Products and its predecessor companies was fatally injured Wednesday in the mill at 1651 S. F St. Michael S. Dodson, 61, of Creswell, the head lay-up line tender at the plant, died. Dodson was tending to a plywood assembly line that wasn't working properly, McKenzie Vice President Steve Killgore said. Dodson had told other workers it was time to leave the machinery so it could be worked on, Killgore said. Dodson had worked for Georgia-Pacific Corp., then Springfield Forest Products, then McKenzie Forest Products when it was formed four years ago. He started at the plant site at age 18 in 1959. The Oregon State Police, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the company itself are investigating to determine the cause of the accident, Killgore said.
Tecumseh man's arm injured in accident at paper plant from staff reports A Tecumseh man was in fair condition today following a workplace accident Thursday. A Lenawee County Sheriff's Department report said Anthony Michael Sisty, 24, was at work at 5:26 p.m. at Sorensen Paperboard, 6240 E. U.S. 223, working with a 33-year-old Blissfield man, Scott Billington, who was on his first day there. They were operating a machine that has many moving rollers and cuts large spools of paper into specific sizes. Billington told a deputy the machine was running, but a piece of paper was sticking out from it. Sisty tried to grab the paper, but his arm got caught in the rollers. He was pulled in up to his shoulder before his co-workers were able to shut down the machine and remove him from the rollers. His arm was possibly broken. Sisty was flown by LifeFlight air ambulance to the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo, the report said. He was in fair condition today. While talking with another worker, 24-year-old Hudson resident Robin Dean Giddings, the deputy learned a safety gate that is supposed to keep workers from accessing the rollers while the machine is running was not in place, the report said. He said Sisty kept it up and out of the way to save time. Sisty's foreman, a 39-year-old Clayton man, said he had told Sisty to use the gate in the past. Billington was unaware of the gate, the report said.
UPDATE, Worker's Death Brings $47,000 in Proposed OSHA Penalties for Pompano Beach Wire Manufacturer POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- Failing to protect employees from machine guarding hazards may cost the Ivy Steel and Wire Company $47,000 in penalties according to citations issued today by the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. On April 1, a worker at the company's plant was operating two machines that spun wire onto rotating spools. As one spool reached capacity the operator attempted to stop the machine but was caught around the neck by a loop of wire and killed. "Employees must be protected from the power, speed and relentless motion of moving machine parts," said Luis Santiago, OSHA's Ft. Lauderdale area director. "Failing to employ proper machine guarding can result in amputations and death." The company received two serious citations with proposed penalties totaling $12,000 for failing to properly guard rotating machine parts. The agency also issued two repeat citations with proposed penalties totaling $35,000 for failing to properly guard machine pulleys and to implement lockout-tagout procedures, making the machine inoperable during wire threading, welding or maintenance. OSHA issues a serious citation when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and that the employer knew or should have known of the hazard. A repeat citation is issued when OSHA has cited a company within the past three years for similar violations and the citations have become a final order of the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The company, a division of MMI Products, Inc., has 15 working days to contest the citations and proposed penalties before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by OSHA's Ft. Lauderdale office located at Jacaranda Executive Court, Bldg H-100, 8040 Peters Rd; phone: (954) 424-0242.
UPDATE, Worker’s finger amputated in chocolate machine A Waikato company has been sentenced to pay a fine of $4,800 after part of a worker’s finger was amputated in a chocolate making machine. Waikato Valley Chocolates Ltd pleaded guilty in the Hamilton District Court after being prosecuted by the Occupational Safety and Health Service. “The accident happened when a worker was cleaning one of the machines. He was trying to clear a blockage when part of his finger was amputated,” said Kevin Webby, OSH Service Manager, Waikato-Thames. “The worker, who was also a architectural student, had been working at the plant for just three weeks. “While he had been told how to operate the machine for a production run, he had not been trained in the cleaning/flushing operation. “The company should have instructed him on a safe cleaning process and advised him of the hazards associated with this particular machine. “New Zealanders being harmed and killed at work is simply unacceptable. “Everyone has the right to go to work and be safe. Companies must ensure that workplace hazards are identified and controlled correctly, and that their safety systems are constantly reviewed and updated.” Further information: Kevin Webby, OSH Service Manager, Waikato-Thames Region Tel: 07 838 1381 Mobile: 025 531 717
UPDATE, Workers burned in blast still in critical condition By NICK FALSONE, The Express-Times NORTHAMPTON -- Two workers remained in critical condition Tuesday with serious injuries suffered in an industrial blast Sunday afternoon at a newspaper recycling plant. Edward Kavcak, 47, of Forks Township and Joe Yost, 47, of Kunkletown, Pa., were taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township following the 4:15 p.m. blast at the Newstech PA plant on Horwith Drive, authorities said. The plant remained closed Tuesday. The two workers were trying to repair a pump unit when the unit ruptured, sending out a barrage of steam that reached temperatures of up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, authorities said. The blast killed 56-year-old John Thomas Stefano of Pohatcong Township. He died of massive blunt injuries. His death was ruled an accident, authorities said. Yost was the only one of the three employed by Newstech. Kavcak and Stefano were employed by subcontractor FMSC of Bethlehem. They were hired by Newstech to repair the pump unit prior to the time it ruptured. FMSC management and employees issued a prepared statement Tuesday that offered condolences. "We wish to express our deepest sympathy to the family of our co-worker, John Stefano, who died Sunday following an accident at the Newstech PA plant located in Northampton," the statement says. "The thoughts and prayers of our management and employees are also with the two other workers who were injured Sunday, and with their families," the statement says. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating. OSHA officials said it could take several weeks to several months before the probe is complete. FMSC and Newstech officials said they plan to fully cooperate with OSHA. Plant officials have not yet decided when to reopen, said Newstech spokesman Ken Robinson. "Their concern right now is making sure employees are being helped," he said. "They've really tried to go out of their way to make sure everyone affected is offered some sort of support." Newstech Vice President Mark Roseborough issued a prepared statement Monday offering condolences to the family of the three men.
Man Dies in Freak Pea Drop STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Reuters) - A Swedish man died Tuesday when he was buried alive under a 13-ton pile of peas in a storage silo, local media reported. The man, who was around 30 years old, was working on an electrical installation on a farm near the town of Mjolby in southeastern Sweden when the peas were dumped on him. Rescue workers pulled the man from the silo but were unable to revive him, a radio station reported.
Recycling plant blast kills man working on pump Accident at Northampton facility also sends 2 to hospital. By Joe McDonald and Nick Politi, Of The Morning Call One man was killed and two others were injured when a pressurized pump they were trying to repair burst at a paper recyling plant in Northampton on Sunday afternoon, authorities said. John Thomas Stefano, 56, of the 400 block of Ohio Avenue, Phillipsburg, was killed instantly, Northampton County Coroner Scott Lysek said. The two others were flown by helicopter to Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Township. Their conditions were not available. The accident, initially reported as an explosion, happened at 4:15 p.m. at Newstech Pa. L.P. on Horwith Drive off Route 329 near the Northampton border with East Allen Township. It was the first fatal accident at a Lehigh Valley plant since August 1999. Lysek said Stefano was not an employee of Newstech but an employee of FMSC of Bethlehem, a subcontractor that was called in to repair a pump that was ''not functioning properly.'' The plant had recently undergone a $10 million upgrade by its new owner, a Canadian company that bought the former Ponderosa Fibres after it went bankrupt and was ordered closed by the state Department of Environmental Protection because of odors. The blast happened in a 2-foot by 4-foot unit known as a mixer pump. The men reportedly had been working on it for a short time. When the pump ruptured, it sent a steam blast consisting mostly of water at temperatures between 125 and 140 degrees into the area where the men were working, Lysek said at a news conference outside the plant Sunday night. A worker who did not want to be identified said he was moving bundles of paper with a forklift and felt the blast. ''It rattled the place,'' he said. The worker said a concrete block wall separated his work area from the scene. He said he ran toward a door and saw a worker on the floor apparently dead from a severe head wound. He saw another man down and badly hurt. He got a large piece of cardboard to cover the badly injured man and tried to put cardboard over the broken pipe. He said he did not know the injured workers ''because they were unrecognizable.'' While he was helping the badly injured man, a third worker who was not hurt as badly got himself up off the floor. The accident closed the plant. Workers who arrived for the second shift were sent home. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the DEP and Northampton County emergency management workers were investigating Sunday night. Juan Raymond said he and another worker were on the other side of the plant when the accident happened. ''It's a big mess in there,'' he said. Ryan Villone, 31, of Pen Argyl was to begin his first day of work Sunday, a 12-hour shift to start at 7 p.m. at $8 an hour. He got to the plant early because he wasn't sure where it was. He was told to go home about 6:30 p.m. When he learned of the accident, he said, ''I was shaking like a leaf.'' He said he doesn't expect to be called to Newstech soon and will look for work at the Job Connection in Bangor. Neighbors were unaware there had been an accident until they noticed television news crews from Philadelphia circling the plant in helicopters. Willard Druckenmiller, who lives nearby, used to be most concerned about the smell that came from the plant. On Sunday, though, his thoughts turned to the killed and injured. ''I feel sorry for those people,'' he said. Last month, a fire broke out at the plant in a pile of recycled paper. At first it was thought the fire was caused by spontaneous combustion, but later officials determined that a spark from a forklift was the cause, said Borough Manager Gene Zarayko. The plant, on the site of the former Atlas Cement, employs about 90 people. It is across the street from Northampton Generating Co. Newstech gets its steam from the power plant, Zarayko said. Newstech, a subsidiary of Belkorp Industries in Vancouver, British Columbia, fitted the plant with noise suppression units and a new vent stack to reduce odors. The plant separates ink from paper by placing the paper in a large tub called a pulper, then cleans the paper with soap. The paper goes through a series of screens, using hydrogen peroxide to whiten it. The paper is dried in sheets, and the water is recycled. State police from Bethlehem, including a fire marshal, were at the plant. Northampton Fire Department, Northampton police, Northampton Regional EMS, East Allen EMS and Northampton fire police also responded. On Aug. 2, 1999, an explosion at the Tirenergy tire recycling facility at the J.H. Beers Construction complex off Male Road in Plainfield Township killed Joseph Vincent Jr., 42, of Garfield, N.J. Reporters Dan Shope, Christian Millman, Keith Herbert, and news assistant Pat DeFrancisco contributed to this report.
Man's hand severed in accident at mulch yard By Jeffrey Sykes / The News & Advance A 42-year-old Gladys man had his right hand severed above the wrist Monday after it became snagged in a machine he was working on at a Lynchburg mulch yard. Cliff "Sonny" Smullen, an employee of Nash Wood and Timber, was alone at the company's mulch yard on McConville Road when the accident occurred. Smullen told medics he was working on a machine that grinds wood into mulch when his hand became caught in a radiator fan, according to Capt. Dennis Duff of the Lynchburg Fire Department. "Somehow he got his hand in there," Duff said. "It pretty much cut it off above the wrist." The accident occurred about 8:25 a.m. Smullen remained calm and used a phone to call for help, Duff said, and had wrapped his arm in towels before medics arrived. "He was at the end of the driveway waiting on us," Duff said. "He was real calm." Damage to nerve endings may have subdued the pain at first, but Smullen experienced great pain by the time he arrived at the hospital. "All of us thought it was unusual for him to be so calm," Duff said. "He may have been in minor shock. Due to the damaged nerve endings, you just don't realize (the pain). It takes a while for the pain to set in." Medics took Smullen to Lynchburg General Hospital and gave him morphine for pain during transport. A hospital spokesperson said Smullen was in fair condition in the orthopedics unit Monday afternoon. It was unclear if doctors were able to reattach the hand. Tim Nash said Smullen has worked for his company for about 13 years, and described his reaction to news of the accident as a "gut-wrenching feeling." "Words can't describe it," Nash said. "He's one of our key employees and a good friend." Nash said he didn't know how the accident happened, but was grateful Smullen never passed out. "We just thank the Lord he was able to remain calm and call 911."
UPDATE,CRUSH DEATH 'ACCIDENTAL' A maintenance man was crushed to death in the jaws of heavy machinery at a Derby firm just a week before Christmas, an inquest heard. Steven Phillips (48) died when he got his head trapped between a steel joist and a moving part of the moulding machine at the QDF factory in Victory Road, Sinfin, at 4pm on December 18 last year. Despite the efforts of his friend to switch off the machine, Mr Phillips was killed instantly. Yesterday (24) a jury at Derby Coroner's Court returned a verdict of accidental death on Mr Phillips, of Vincent Street, Derby. The inquest heard that Mr Phillips, a maintenance worker at the car parts firm since 1977, had spotted a fault in the machine. Colleague Anthony Biddle said maintenance staff were "fed up" with the machine repeatedly breaking down over the previous few weeks and they had not been taking as much care for their safety. Mr Biddle told the inquest that on the day of the accident the maintenance team had found a 2ft-wide pool of oil beneath the machine. He opened a wire-mesh gate next to the machine but he and Mr Phillips decided to shut down the machine before getting any closer. "I turned around to go to the control panel over the bridge and was about half way over when I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Mr Phillips had entered the gate and was leaning into the machine while it was still moving," said Mr Biddle. "I called out to him, but he didn't appear to respond. "I went to the control panel as quickly as I could but by the time I got there he was already trapped." Mr Phillips was released from the machine but was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering massive head injuries. The inquest was told that a system of work permits, where staff were required to get written permission before gaining access to dangerous machinery, was not strictly adhered to at the time of the accident. But Richard O'Sullivan, QDF's health and safety advisor, said instructions were now issued to staff telling them what steps were needed to carry out maintenance work. Health and Safety Executive officer Sarah Jardine said: "I am satisfied that system in place now is as good as can be in the circumstances, provided that it is adhered to." After the hearing Mr Phillips's widow, Sue, said she was "satisfied" with the verdict. His mother, Thelma Phillips, from Littleover, added: "He was a good son. My only son."
UPDATE, Isomedix cited for safety violations, might face fines
By Diane Norman A state inspector has cited a Spartanburg company for six serious safety violations and recommended fines of $16,500 in connection with a June 7 fatality. A maintenance worker, Robert Earl Conyers, 41, of Woodruff, died when a 12-foot-tall metal bin crushed his neck and arm at Isomedix Operations Inc. on Southport Road. The company sterilizes medical products inside 300-pound metal carriers that move along a monorail system. According to a South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation report, the June incident occurred when the conveyor jammed, and Conyers climbed a ladder to see what was causing the problem. “The pneumatic system that powered the cylinder in the monorail system had not been locked out before the employee placed his upper torso in the monorail area,” the report states. “The carrier moved towards the maintenance technician while he was trying to free the carrier, and he was struck in the head, throat and arm by the monorail transfer.” The company did not provide written lock-out, tag-out procedures for its four maintenance technicians to explain how to control hazardous energy, the LLR report states. Isomedix also failed to conduct periodic inspection of energy control procedures and training in the safe application of energy controls, the report says. Kevin Marsh, director of communications for Isomedix’s parent company, Steris Corp. of Mentor, Ohio, said the company is reviewing the LLR report. “I can’t comment at this point,” Marsh said. The company has the option to appeal the citations. Conyers’ widow, Sandy Conyers, said a bin broke the back of a worker in the plant in May, and she thinks Isomedix should have taken action at that time to make the environment safer. “I think the place should have been shut down,” Conyers said. LLR spokeswoman Lesia Kudelka said there is no record of an investigation of a May accident at the plant, but employers are not required to report incidents unless they involve a fatality or injuries requiring overnight hospitalization for three or more workers. The report on the June fatality alludes to a prior incident, but it is not specific. The document states: “On or about May 7, 2002, employer knew or should have known that employees attempting to access ladder blocked by fallen carrier were exposed to the hazard of being crushed by carrier.” South Carolina is one of 23 states and territories that administers its own occupational health and safety program in accordance with the U.S. Department of Labor. On average, a state OSHA inspection results in citations for three serious violations, said Jim Knight, LLR public information director. Serious violations reflect conditions in which there is a potential for serious injury or death but about which the employer had no knowledge, Knight said. If an employer knows about a hazard and deliberately ignores it, he can be cited for a willful violation. South Carolina issued six citations for willful violations in the fiscal year 2000-2001, compared with 3,225 serious violations, Knight said. Fines are based on a number of factors: the number of employees, the employer’s cooperation and willingness to correct deficiencies, and the previous safety history, Knight said. “The maximum penalty we can fine an employer for a serious violation is $7,000,” he said. The fines recommended for Isomedix are about 40 percent of the possible maximum of $42,000. According to records on the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration Web site, Isomedix previously was cited for one serious violation at a planned inspection in January 1994 and for two serious violations in connection with a fatality in July 1984. In the 1984 incident, a forklift operator was killed when the machine he was driving overturned, the records state.
Man killed in concrete mixer by Anthony France A London man was crushed to death early today as the concrete lorry he was cleaning accidentally switched on. The 33-year-old victim was working with his head and shoulders inside an access hatch when the motor started. The mechanism dragged him inside and the top half of his body was crushed by the huge drum. He was trying to remove a load of concrete at a firm based at Baldwins Farm, in Dennises-Lane, Upminster, shortly after 1am. A colleague with him was not hurt but was being treated for shock. Essex police, who are investigating, said they had not formally identified the victim, who was from Elm Park, but his girlfriend and father had been informed.
SURGEONS BATTLE IN VAIN TO SAVE WORKER'S SEVERED ARM JOHN THOMSON Surgeons were unsuccessful in their attempt to re-attach a mill worker's arm - severed yesterday in an accident at a North-east animal feed plant. An Aberdeen Royal Infirmary spokesman confirmed last night that surgeons were unable to reinstate Steven Neish's arm during a painstaking operation which lasted around five hours. Mr Neish, 31, of 33 Thomson Road, Banff, was injured at the Grampian Country Feeds plant at Mill of Brydock on the Banff-Aberchirder road. His condition was said to be satisfactory last night. Mr Neish, who is single, is believed to have been working with machinery when his arm was severed between the elbow and shoulder. Shocked workmates quickly raised the alarm and he was attended at the scene by paramedics. His arm was placed in a bag packed with frozen foodstuffs and taken by the police to Chalmers Hospital, Banff, where it was repacked in ice. While Mr Neish was being taken to hospital in Aberdeen by ambulance, his severed limb was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in a police convoy. Later, his family told how they heard the horrifying news. His mother Cathy, a care worker, also of 33 Thomson Road, Banff, said the news had been broken to her by her son's employers after she received a message to phone his work. She said: "As far as I know, he had been working with some machinery and he must have got his arm caught. "The doctor told me it had been severed up near the shoulder but there wasn't damage to the rest of the arm." "Apparently he was conscious all the way to Aberdeen in the ambulance." Mrs Neish said Steven, who is known by his nickname Bap, had worked at Mill of Brydock for seven years. "He's just a popular Banff loon and very conscientious about his work," she added. Part of his duties at the mill include monitoring the intake of materials and operating the weighbridge. One of Mr Neish's brothers, Alan, who works as a lorry driver, was in the Edinburgh area when he was contacted by his wife, Brenda. He returned to Banff and said: "She said first it was his hand and then phoned again to say it was his arm. "None of us know what happened and there's no point in speculating at the moment." He said his brother had worked as a tyrefitter at a Banff garage and then as a milkman before joining the mill. An immediate investigation was mounted by the Health and Safety Executive into the cause of the accident, which happened at about 9am. Mill operators Grampian Country Feeds are part of the Grampian Country Food Group. Marketing manager Alasdair Cox declined to give details of the accident but said: "We are conducting a full investigation in conjunction with the Health and Safety Executive." He said the company's thoughts were with the injured man and his family. The HSE declined to detail the areas of its investigation. Mill workers refused to speak publicly about the accident.
UPDATE, Compounce Sued In Man's Death By LORETTA WALDMAN, Courant Staff Writer
A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Wilfredo Martinez, a maintenance worker killed during a roller coaster test run in June 2001 at Lake Compounce Theme Park. The suit, filed Friday in state Superior Court in Waterbury, seeks damages in excess of $15,000. It accuses managers at the amusement park on the Bristol-Southington line of failing to comply with industry and federal safety guidelines - a breach the attorney representing Martinez's estate called "shameful" in light of two previous deaths at Lake Compounce in each of the two preceding years. "When you have a situation where you have a death in your park, then another death, you would hope somebody would conduct a generalized inquiry into all safety procedures and make sure employees are well trained," attorney Michael D'Amico of Watertown said Monday. "The thing that is most difficult to understand is why it was there were still safety violations going on" even after the first two accidents, he said. A 16-year-old ride attendant, Matthew Henne, was crushed beneath a spinning ride at the park in 1999, and a 6-year-old Hartford boy, Deven Alexander, drowned in July 2000 after tumbling from an inner tube into a lake at the bottom of a water slide. Managers at Lake Compounce tightened safety procedures in the wake of each of the previous fatal accidents. But those changes, D'Amico contends, did not extend to other areas of park operation, and if they had, Martinez's death could have been prevented. Martinez, 23, was cutting weeds with a noisy, gas-powered trimmer beneath a section of roller-coaster track before the park opened on June 13, 2001. During a test run, one of the Boulder Dash cars struck Martinez, killing him instantly. The suit says a lock that would have stopped mechanic John Fitch from operating the Boulder Dash roller coaster with Martinez beneath the tracks was not in use, a violation of federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations. OSHA rules were again violated when Bernard Jaworski, a maintenance supervisor, ordered Martinez and two other workers to trim weeds beneath the tracks, the suit says. Nor, the suit contends, did park managers train mechanics not to conduct tests with workers under the tracks or to communicate with each other by two-way radio before running a test, both of which run counter to prevailing industry standards spelled out in guidelines published by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. Joel Fain, a Hartford attorney representing Lake Compounce, declined to comment on specific allegations because he said he had not seen the suit. He called Martinez's death a tragic accident, "but there is no blame to be laid at the feet of Lake Compounce," he said, "based on all the investigations conducted internally and by outside authorities." Park officials reached Monday said the lawsuit had no merit. "It is our intention to vigorously defend our position," said Richard Bisi, a park spokesman. An investigation by Southington police concluded that Martinez's death was an accident that could have been avoided if employees had followed the park's safety procedures. In his deposition, however, Fitch, the mechanic at the controls of the Boulder Dash, said no protocol existed to check for the presence of groundskeepers along the mountainside coaster's 4,600 feet of track. The police report also cited gaps in training. A review of documents and handbooks found no mention of the high-risk areas known as "red zones" where the groundskeepers had been ordered to trim grass. Within 24 hours of the accident, Lake Compounce officials expanded the use of lock-out devices to include groundskeepers. They also appointed a full-time director of safety and training, Jim Lenois, last July. The park paid a $14,000 fine to OSHA in connection with Martinez's death, a penalty lower than it might have been because of what the agency called management's "commitment to go above and beyond the agency's standards." OSHA imposed a separate $7,000 fine against the park in Matthew Henne's death.
Accident kills man at WCI
Tribune Chronicle
WARREN -A 62-year-old man was killed Saturday morning in an industrial accident at WCI Steel. A news release from the company said the man, who was not named, was pinned and crushed by a piece of equipment around 9:30 a.m. in the plant's hot strip mill. The worker was a mechanical technician, according to the news release, and had worked at the plant since 1987 and in the steel industry since 1969. The release also said no one else was injured in the accident. The plant's safety department is conducting an investigation, the news release said. The Trumbull County Coroner's office was on the scene as well as the Howland Fire and Police departments. On April 14, 1996, 64-year-old Naamon D. ''Red'' Bare was crushed to death by a clamp on the mill's galvanizing line. Bare was performing maintenance work inside an automatic welder at the time. WCI spokesman Tim Roberts could not be reached for comment. United Steelworkers of America head Michael Rubicz did not return a message seeking comment.
Area man has nearly amputated thumb repaired at Lake Butler Hospital
By:Jennifer Thomas, special to UCT
A Macclenny man was transferred to Lake Butler Hospital/Hand Surgery Center (LBH/HSC) after nearly amputating his thumb at work last week.
Bradley Dopson, 35, was working on a machine that braids thick electrical wire together, when the wire accidentally wrapped around his right forearm and hand, throwing him on the ground. "The wire was springy and poppy and it was tangled around my hand," said Dopson. "I looked down and there were six or seven knots of wire around my thumb." Dopson works for Florida Wire and Cable in Sanderson. His co-workers helped save Dopson's hand. "They had to unravel the strands of wire," said Dopson. "They risked their own safety to untangle me." While waiting for rescue, Dopson's co-workers continued to help him by cutting his glove off, bandaging the hand, putting it on ice and holding it up to control bleeding. "At work we may fuss and argue sometimes, but when it comes down to it they pull together and are there for you," said Dopson. "My supervisor, Timmy Anderson, hurt his own hand trying to help me." Dopson was taken to Fraser Memorial Hospital in Macclenny, where Dr. William Ernoehazy assessed him. Upon assessing and stabilizing the injury. Dr. Ernoehazy suggested Dopson be transferred to LBH/HSC, said Dopson. "The wire twisted and burnt my hand," said Dopson. "You could take the skin and pull it off like you pull a glove on and off." Dopson was transferred to LBH/HSC by a Trauma One helicopter. Dr. Owen Osborne assessed Dopson when he arrived at LBH/HSC. Dopson underwent a five-hour surgery, performed by Osborne, to repair the damaged hand. "The thumb was nearly amputated. The tendons and arteries were completely severed and the bone was broken," said Dr. Osborne. "The tendon was completely pulled away from the muscle, so I had to go up in the forearm to pull the tendon back down." Dopson remained in the hospital for a few days, to receive post-surgical treatment. "The treatment was excellent, they did everything and more," said Cathy Dopson, Dopson's wife. "They were very considerate and helped take care of his needs. They brought him anything he needed throughout the night." Once the bone, muscle and blood vessels in Dopson's hand heal, he will begin rehabilitation to try to regain the use of his thumb. Dopson has a very good chance of keeping his thumb. The early care he received at Fraser was quite appropriate, said Osborne. "His co-workers really handled the accident efficiently, otherwise he would have lost his thumb," said Osborne. Quick thinking saves hands... Not just hands, but all extremities can be microsurgically replanted - and successfully. Completing the following steps can make the difference. *Control bleeding by applying a pressure dressing of gauze, a clean cloth or towel. Elevate the injured area above the level of the heart to minimize bleeding. Use a tourniquet only as a last resort. *Wrap each amputated part separately in a clean, moist cloth. *Place the wrapped part(s) in a sealed plastic bag or container. *Place the plastic bag into a container of ice. Be sure the amputated part never comes into direct contact with the ice, because it will cause frostbite. *Contact the microsurgeon immediately and arrange for transport. Be ready to provide the surgeon with details of the amputation and the medical condition of the patient.
UPDATE, Paper company fined after worker's death
The Associated Press OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) -- The Blue Heron Paper Co. has been fined $5,000 by the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division for safety violations after an employee was crushed to death between bales of paper in February. Alvin Sheller, 34, of Canby was moving the bales from a truck to a conveyor belt at the mill on Feb. 26 when he got onto the conveyor belt and tried to cut wire from a bale, according to the state's investigation. One of the bales rolled back on the conveyor belt and crushed Sheller against another bale. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Blue Heron was cited for three violations after investigators found that the company did not provide enough training for employees to recognize the danger posed by the moving equipment. The state also said the company did not take adequate steps to make sure employees followed safety requirements, and did not ensure that the conveyor belt would not start while an employee was on top of it.
Update, Firm is fined after worker crushed
by Emily Flanagan
A TEENAGER was crushed when a quarrying machine he was maintaining was switched on while he was inside, a court heard yesterday. Anthony Hodgson, from Weardale, County Durham, suffered a fractured vertebrae when he became trapped in a crusher used to break up rocks, in February last year. Yesterday, Ward Brothers, a plant hire firm in Langley Moor, County Durham, were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive at Derwentside Magistrates' Court, Consett, for failing to ensure Mr Hodgson's safety. The company was also prosecuted for allowing Mr Hodgson, from Westgate, to operate a forklift truck without the correct training. Jonathan Pickering, on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive, said Mr Hodgson had been working on the crusher under supervision, but his supervisor had gone to take a phone call. In the meantime, the firm's managing director told him the machinery needed greasing. Mr Hodgson climbed inside to carry out the work and his supervisor returned and - not knowing Mr Hodgson was inside - switched the machinery back on. Mr Pickering told the court: "Clearly, he shouted and the supervisor switched the machine off quickly, but it was sufficient time to cause a back injury." Mr Pickering said there was some dispute over whether the managing director was suggesting he carried the work out immediately, or at a later date. But he said some form of safety device could have prevented the accident. Mr Hodgson, who was 18 at the time of the accident, needed surgery to correct the injury and is now believed to be unemployed. Charles McKane, defending, said the company took health and safety very seriously, and the supervisor would have prevented the accident if he had not been called to the telephone. The company was fined #2,000 for failing to ensure its employees' safety and #500 for allowing him to operate a forklift truck without training between April 1999, when he started work, and March last year. The firm was ordered to pay #1,088 costs.
Company faces $15,0000 in fines over refinery death
By Paul Cocke, News Editor
A company faces more than $15,000 in fines from the state Department of Labor and Industries following the death of a 37-year-old man in an accident at the Tesoro refinery in January. Johnny Rogers of Baker, La. , worked for the company that was doing contract maintenance as part of a turnaround at the Anacortes refinery. Rogers was fatally injured Jan. 26 while performing maintenance on a temporary construction elevator, officials have said. No one else was hurt in the incident. The elevator had been installed to transport employees and materials for work on the refinery's catalytic cracking, or cat cracker, unit, which is used in the refining process, officials have said. L & I levied a total of $15,750 in fines against CBI Services Inc., of Plainfield , Ill , according to a citation listing the violations and penalties. CBI Services has appealed the penalties, said Bill Ripple, L & I spokesman. Ripple said when L & I inspectors investigated possible workplace safety violations soon after the fatality, they did not find any violations on behalf of Tesoro in the area of the accident that resulted in Rogers ' death. The L & I citation alleges that the employer, CBI Services:
- Did not ensure that the power source to the "material/personnel hoist was locked out" when the fatally injured worker who was providing preventative maintenance procedures was exposed to moving parts of the elevator car and mast system that resulted in fatal crushing injuries, according to the citation. Fine: $6,300.
- Did not ensure that employees performing service on the elevator performed the service according to manufacturer's specifications. Specifically, the citation alleges that although a person was "servicing from the top of the elevator car" that the portable operator's control box was operated from within the car cage. It also alleges that two of the employees servicing on the elevator had been trained on a different model of elevator. Fine: $4,050.
- Did not ensure "that elevator maintenance duties were supervised and enforced in a manner which was effective" because the employees performing maintenance on the elevator "had not received training on the type (model) of elevator being serviced and the methods necessary to perform the work in a safe manner." Fine: $2,700.
- Did not "ensure that the company's formal accident prevention program was tailored to the particular needs of operating and/or servicing a job site elevator and the type of hazards involved."
The citation alleges that "a lack of information could and did expose employees to hazards that could and did result in fatal injuries." Fine: $2,700. A total of four violations were alleged, all listed as "serious" by L & I. Ripple said that violations are categorized as: general, or of a lower thresold: serious, or a violation likely to result in serious injury or death: and willful, or knowingly or intentionally violating safety regulations. A maximum fine for a serious violation can be $7,000. Under the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act, L & I is required to investigate all occupational fatalities. CBI Services' appeal next moves to the state Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals, Ripple said. That board has granted the appeal, meaning it has been determined the agency has jurisdiction to hear the appeal, said Jay Raish, confidential secretary to the board. The next step in that process, Raish said, will be to enter into a mediation conference, before an industrial appeals judge, to determine whether the case can be handled through mediation. That would include both the employer and the state Attorney General's Office, which represents L & I. If the appeal isn't resolved at that level, the case goes before another industrial appeals judge, who will oversee a formal trial process on the appeal, she said. CBI Services is a subsidiary of Chicago Bridge and Iron, Inc., a global specialty engineering and construction company, according to the corporate web site. A spokesman for the company contacted last week said if they were going to respond they would do so by Monday, but had not contacted the American by presstime. Tom Hanich, manager of human resources at Tesoro, said the refinery declined to comment.
UPDATE, Mansfield, Ohio Firm's Failure to Protect Workers Against Unsafe Working Conditions Results in $176,250 in OSHA Penalties
TOLEDO , Ohio -- Failure to safely de-energize machinery during set-up operations may have contributed to an accidental amputation in October at Ohio Valley Manufacturing of 500 Newman St., Mansfield, Ohio, according to citations issued to the company by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA is proposing a total fine of $176,250 for a variety of workplace safety hazards at the metal stamping plant, as a result of an inspection the Labor Department agency opened on Oct. 9, 2001 following the accident. OSHA cited the automotive supplier for willful violations of worker safety and health regulations covering lockout and de-energizing machinery during set-up operations, failing to train workers in those procedures and for machine-guard failures. OSHA also issued serious citations involving fire exit issues, safety problems with gas cylinders, protective eye equipment, forklift operations and power press operations. Jule A. Jones, area director of the Toledo OSHA office, said that the company has 15 working days from receipt of the citations to contest OSHA's action before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, to request an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or accept the citations and penalties.
Rising Sun man rescued from grain bin now in fair condition
By Chandra L. Mattingly, Staff Reporter, April 24, 2002
Shawn Horstman, 28, Rising Sun, was in fair condition Tuesday morning, April 23, at University of Cincinnati Hospital, according to hospital public relations senior consultant Patty Holiday. University Air Care transported the Rising Sun man to the hospital after he spent over two hours trapped in a grain bin at Consolidated Grain and Barge, 210 George St. , Aurora , Monday afternoon, April 22. Horstman, a panel operator employed about 1 1/2 years at the grain storage and barge terminal business, got his foot caught in a conveyor inside a 25,000 bushel storage bin, said manager Scott Perkins. “We were just cleaning a bin. He just stepped off into one of the discharge holes,” said Perkins. Employees always work in pairs or small groups when inside the grain bins. Two employees with Horstman immediately called for help after the 4:15 p.m. (DST, fast time) accident, said Perkins. Horstman, who was not covered with grain, was conscious throughout the two hours it took Aurora police, fire department and emergency rescue personnel to free him, said Aurora Fire Department Public Information Office Kevin Turner. Taken to Taylor Field on the north side of U.S. 50 by Aurora Emergency Rescue, Horstman was transported in “non-life-threatening condition, stable condition” to University Hospital , Cincinnati , said Turner. AirCare took off at 6:40 p.m. , according to Aurora Police Department records. Aurora patrolman Dana Cotton, one of the first on the scene, said Horstman’s foot was wedged tightly in the channel containing the conveyor belt. Rescuers were most concerned not to further injure the trapped man. “We had to basically dismantle the whole system to get him out,” said Cotton. Rescuers used handtools, pry bars acetylene torches and other tools to free Horstman. Firefighters stood by with a water hose attached to a pumper because rescuers were concerned about producing “a lot of sparks around that dust,” said Cotton. Most of the tools used are carried by the fire department and Aurora Emergency Rescue, said Turner, including air chisels, pry bars, breathing apparatus. Cotton said breathing apparatus was provided for Horstman throughout the rescue, and he was given pain medicine in the final stages. About 20 to 25 people were involved. Dearborn County Sheriff’s Department provided assistance at Taylor Field, where AirCare landed on blacktop recently installed in the Waterways Park expansion there. Perkins said employee injuries are not common at Consolidated Grain’s Aurora facility, where employees had gone about 1,200 days, well over three years, without an injury. “We work hard at our safety program,” he said.
Worker at landfill, pinned by trash compactor, dies
By RICHARD ESPINOZA, The Kansas City Star
A man died early Friday in Shawnee when he was pinned by a garbage truck compactor on which he was working. Brian T. Jones, 24, of Belton was working on the compactor blade at the Deffenbaugh landfill, investigators said. The Johnson County Sheriff's Department said Jones died because of an equipment malfunction and passed the investigation to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Jones and another man had been installing grease fittings in the part of the truck that compacts trash, said sheriff's Lt. Steve Quigg. Jones' co-worker went into the truck cab about 2:20 a.m. to lower the front arms that lift trash bins, and the compactor started opening. Jones, who was standing behind the blade, died when it pinned him against a screen in the truck. Rescuers had to cut through the screen to reach his body because the compactor would not close, Quigg said. Deffenbaugh Disposal Service employees told investigators the blade had recently been removed for maintenance and reinstalled Thursday night. Jones was the third worker to die at the landfill at 18181 W. 53rd St. since December 1999, when a man died after a tractor-trailer dump truck hit the trash truck he was in. In March 2001, a man was maneuvering a crane on a slope when he lost control, crashed down an embankment and died.
UPDATE, Suit Filed in Fatal Power Plant Accident
Three men who were injured by steam and hot ash while setting up scaffolding at Ebensburg Power Plant last year are suing the company for damages. The three men were injured and one was killed in the Feb. 5, 2001 incident while they were setting up scaffolding over a large boiler furnace at a cogeneration electric station owned by Ebensburg Power Co. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the station $15,000 after determining that the plant failed to establish a control plan to ensure that all energy sources were shut off. The power station later agreed to pay $11,250 in fines without admitting to any violations.
Machine traps foundry worker
Atlantic States employee cracks four ribs.
03/09/02, By PETER HALL, The Express-Times
PHILLIPSBURG - A maintenance worker suffered four cracked ribs when he stepped in between parts of a pipe-painting machine at Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co. early Friday morning, according to a federal officials. Phillipsburg police said Wilfredo Villaba of the 900 block of Fifth Street in Bethlehem was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township following the incident. He was listed in satisfactory condition Friday afternoon, a hospital official said. The federal Occupation Safety and Health Administration will send investigators to the Sitgreaves Street site on Monday, said federal OSHA spokesman Mike Yarnell. Phillipsburg rescue squad and police were called to the foundry about 4:20 a.m. Phillipsburg Detective James Faulborn said Villaba was not trapped for very long. "The personnel in the plant were able to tend to him right away and called the emergency squad," Faulborn said. The incident occurred as Villaba was between parts of a machine used to paint pipes while he was cleaning it, Atlantic States General Manager Dennis Charko said. Charko said Villaba should not have been working near the equipment while it was still running. He said the incident occurred toward the end of a shift. The paint shop is a restricted area that is closed to workers while machinery is running. The painting machine is remotely operated, Charko said. The equipment should have been turned off, Yarnell said. Atlantic States requires the equipment be turned off and can not be turned on when someone is working nearby, he said. Charko said Atlantic States is also investigating the incident. The company has not determined if anyone is to blame. "We want to understand what happened before we determine what to do," Charko said. In August 2001, an employee of a construction company was critically injured when he fell about 20 feet through the roof of a building at the foundry. The foundry is Phillipsburg's oldest industry and employs about 300 people. Since 1999, the plant has been the site of two deaths and a spate of less serious incidents.
UPDATE, OSHA issues fines in wake of lumber death
David Bruser, Staff Writer, Published Friday, March 01, 2002 1:12 PM CST
Just months after a part-owner of Byrd Lumber Co. was killed in a workplace accident, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the company more than $140,000. Failure to shut off power to a conveyor assembly, which reportedly contributed to the death of James W. Byrd, 63, of McCall Creek, was one of 43 safety and health citations issued Thursday to Byrd Lumber Co. of Magnolia. The penalty for the alleged violations is $143,150.The company has 15 working days to contest the citations and fines before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Part-owner Keith Byrd said the company will appeal, starting with a request for an informal conference with OSHA in Jackson, where fines for problems already corrected may be rescinded. "Most of the violations have already been corrected, especially everything they pointed out to us," he said. "We really thought we were going to have a conference before we got issued these citations. They led us to believe that everything that was repaired would be taken off, and maybe it will at this informal conference." On Aug. 28, 2001, James Byrd was crushed to death in an accident at the company on Highway 51 north of Magnolia. Byrd got pinned between two pieces of machinery, and workers were unable to turn the machinery off before his head and arm were crushed, according to Pike County Coroner Percy Pittman. "This tragic accident could have been avoided if company officials had followed OSHA regulations," said OSHA’s Jackson area director Clyde Payne in a press release. Payne’s office conducted the inspection. Failing to render a machine inoperable before repair work began, operating defective equipment throughout the plant and failing to properly guard machinery were some of the 37 alleged safety hazards totaling $128,800 in fines. OSHA also cited six alleged health hazards with fines totaling $14,350. About two months after Byrd died, a fire damaged tin buildings and destroyed an estimated $100,000 of lumber at the Byrd family’s Magnolia Lumber Co., which was located less than a mile south of Byrd Lumber Co. on Highway 51.
Workplace accident leaves 1 dead
2002-02-15
An industrial worker died Thursday after getting tangled in machinery. Authorities have not released the identity of the 65-year-old man who was killed at Sasco Rental Tools and Machinery Shop, 2101 S Eastern Ave. Shop Manager Marvin Sasnett said workers were threading a 30-foot piece of pipe when the man got tangled in the end of it about 2 p.m. "This pipe grabbed his clothing and just started winding him up," Sasnett said. The worker running the machine noticed something was wrong and shut it off, but the man was already injured. He was pronounced dead at 2:46 p.m. at OU Medical Center.
Worker's Death Brings OSHA Citations for Haleyville Manufacturer
HALEYVILLE, Ala. -- Repeated failures of a Haleyville, Ala., door manufacturing plant to protect its workers from machine hazards contributed to the death of an employee in August, 2001 and may cost the company $102,000 in proposed penalties, the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced today. The Aug. 4, 2001, fatality occurred in the lay-up department where door parts and wooden stiles are fed through a glue machine and placed on a hydraulic scissor lift. The lift is lowered into a pit as more door parts are added until about 50 doors are completed, at which time the scissor lift ascends and the doors are sent to the next operation. While clearing parts and debris from the pit, a Premdor, Inc. employee was crushed when the scissor lift slowly descended on him. "This employer knew about 'lockout/tagout' procedures that render machinery inoperable during service and repair but neglected to enforce them," said Roberto Sanchez, OSHA's Birmingham area director. "In fact, a full inspection of the Haleyville facility in 1999 resulted in citations for similar violations and Premdor, Inc. had been cited previously in connection with a similar fatality at its Tampa plant." OSHA's investigation of the accident resulted in four repeat citations for: not posting appropriate confined space warning signs at the scissor lift pit; not enforcing the use of lockout/tagout procedures when employees enter the pit for service work and maintenance purposes; failing to conduct periodic inspections of energy control procedures, and unguarded pinch points at the floor level of scissor lifts. The repeat violations resulted in penalties totaling $95,000. The remaining $7,000 fine was assessed for one serious violation -- failure to provide individual locks, tags, and blocking devices, and to train employees in their use, to prevent release of stored energy or the unexpected start-up of the scissor lift. OSHA defines a serious violation as one in which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard. A repeat violation occurs when an employer has been cited previously for a substantially similar condition and the citation has become a final order of the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The company has 15 working days to contest OSHA's most recent citations before the Commission. Internationally-owned Premdor, Inc. employs approximately 4,150 workers in the U.S., about 208 of whom are located at the Haleyville plant. The inspection was conducted by OSHA's Birmingham area office located at 2047 Canyon Rd.; telephone: (205) 731-1534.
UPDATE, Training probed at milk plant after death of worker
BY LISA FERNANDEZ, Mercury News Published Thursday, Jan. 24, 2002, in the San Jose Mercury News
As a Fremont family made funeral arrangements for a man who died during a workplace accident, state inspectors said Wednesday they are examining the San Leandro Safeway milk plant's training, which was previously not up to code. Dean Fryer, a spokesman for the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal-OSHA), said the same milk-processing plant was fined more than $10,000 in 1999 for failing to train employees in proper safety procedures, such as how to turn off equipment. Anthony Fraga, a 41-year-old husband and father of three, was killed Monday while working an overnight shift when a large machine trapped him. He was an engineer doing routine maintenance on a machine that moves large pallets of milk. His funeral is scheduled for Friday. Fryer said Cal-OSHA will zero in on whether Fraga received the proper ``lockout-tagout'' training, which often means turning the machine off. ``We're going to look at it because it's an issue that's come up before,'' Fryer said. ``And past history is important.'' Safeway spokeswoman Debra Lambert said Fraga, who was two days shy of completing his three-month probationary period, had received ``hands-on'' training with supervisors on the ``lockout'' procedure. The October 1999 accident, in which an employee received second-degree burns while fixing a similar machine without turning it off or putting a tarp over the hot areas he was welding, prompted one of two Cal-OSHA investigations of the San Leandro plant. During the inspection, 26 violations -- three serious -- were found, reports show. Safeway corrected all the problems, including the lockout training problem, in one month. Cal-OSHA fined the Safeway plant $19,000. On appeal, the company paid $12,000. State fines generally range from $200 to $25,000 and can soar to $70,000 in extreme cases in which a company intends to harm an employee. Lambert said that after the 1999 fines, Safeway ``enhanced'' and ``improved'' its employee training, but she declined to provide additional details. ``Safety is truly our first concern,'' she said. Safeway, she said, is paying for Fraga's funeral services and providing his family with other benefits. Fraga's family remains in mourning. ``They're having a real hard time,'' said Fraga's mother-in-law, Joetta Duncan. ``It's real hard on the kids.'' Fraga leaves behind his wife of 17 years, Lori, and three children, Noel, 7, Josh, 12, and A.J., 14. He worked at Nortel Networks for 17 years before being laid off and landing the Safeway job. ``He was a loving, giving person,'' Duncan said. Fraga's funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday at Fremont Memorial Chapel Mortuary, 3723 Peralta Blvd.
UPDATE, Fremont man killed
BY LISA FERNANDEZ , Published Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2002, in the San Jose Mercury News
SAFEWAY ENGINEER CRUSHED BY MACHINE AT SAN LEANDRO PLANT
A father of three dies after being pinned by a milk-moving machine. He had been employed at the processing plant for about three months. It was the first fatal accident at the plant, officials said. A Fremont man was crushed to death early Monday by a milk-moving machine at a Safeway processing plant in San Leandro. Anthony Fraga, 41, an engineer, was doing routine maintenance on a container-loading machine about 12:30 a.m., when somehow it activated and pinned him inside, said San Leandro police Lt. Marc Decouloude. The plant, at 2000 Adams Ave., processes and distributes milk for Safeway's Northern California stores. A Safeway spokesman said it was the plant's first fatality. ``This was just a tragic accident, and our sympathy and condolences go out to the family,'' said David Bowlby, Safeway's director of public relations. Safeway shut down all milk processing, but officials expect to resume operation today. Any Northern California stores that needed milk could get some from Southern California. Fraga was working the graveyard shift with four other employees, police said. A co-worker witnessed the accident and called 911. Firefighters extracted Fraga from the machine with a hydraulic cutting tool, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. With Monday being a holiday, Martin Luther King Day, police were scrambling to locate representatives from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health to aid in the investigation. Fraga had started working at Safeway about three months ago. ``His probation was almost up. He was so excited. He was going to be permanent in two days,'' said family friend Debbie Capas. ``I'm speechless. We were very good friends.'' Fraga worked as a Nortel Networks engineer for 15 years, Capas said. But he was laid off in September and found the Safeway job to provide for his wife, Lori, and his three children, AJ, 14, Josh, 12, and Noel, 7. Asked to remember their father, Josh said: ``He'd never give up.'' AJ added, ``He was a workaholic.'' Capas said Fraga was a ``wonderful, kind person'' who loved his children, who attend Centerville Junior High and Parkmont Elementary schools. In addition to his job with Safeway, Fraga did landscaping work. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Accident Kills Safeway Worker
Monday January 21 04:41 PM EST, By KPIX - Simon Perez
A Fremont man was killed this morning at the Safeway distribution plant in San Leandro. Rescue workers say Anthony Fraga was crushed by a piece of warehouse machinery. Fraga had only been working at the warehouse for a few months, but whether his inexperience had anything to do with his death, is for California's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to figure out. The plant processes and packages milk for all the Safeway stores in Northern California. The Alameda County coroner's office is calling Fraga's death accidental, which means foul play has been ruled out. It was either machine or operator error. The machine 41-year old Fraga was working on, moved heavy stacks containing cartons of milk onto pallets. Safeway Spokesman David Bowlby: "He was a maintenance engineer at our plant. He was performing regular maintenance on an automated loading system." San Leandro police say Fraga was crushed between the pusher and a guide. The issue is, did someone forget to turn off the machine while Fraga was working on it, or did it malfunction and turn on by mistake? Either way, Cal-OSHA is in charge of deciding whether to impose any penalties on the company. The plant is shut down while the investigation continues. Safeway says its Southern California plant will make up the production difference, if the Northern California plant stays down for long. Safeway says the plant has a good record, with no similar accidents before. For more Bay Area news and information, visit the PIX Page at kpix.com
UPDATE, Repairman killed by elevator in Riverwoods is identified
Published January 10, 2002
A repairman who died when he was crushed while fixing an elevator at the Discover Card building in Riverwoods has been identified as Raymond A. Zytnowski, 57, of Woodridge, officials said. Lake County Coroner Barbara Richardson said Wednesday that Zytnowski had not locked the elevator or turned off the power while working on it Tuesday afternoon. He was crushed when the elevator descended on him, Richardson said. Zytnowski worked for the Schindler Elevator Co. for 35 years and had serviced the elevators at the Discover Card building at 2500 Lake Cook Rd. for 10 years, Richardson said. Zytnowski was found trapped between a wall and the elevator shaft, between the basement and the first floor, about 1 p.m. Tuesday, said Fred Kruger, chief of the Lincolnshire/Riverwoods Fire Protection District.
Repairman crushed fixing elevator
Published January 9, 2002
A repairman died Tuesday afternoon when he apparently was crushed while fixing an elevator at the Discover Card building in Riverwoods, officials said. The Fire Department was called to the office building at 2500 Lake Cook Road around 1 p.m., said Fred Kruger, chief of the Lincolnshire/Riverwoods Fire Protection District. The man was found trapped between a wall and the elevator shaft, between the basement and the first floor, Kruger said. The department's special-response unit rigged a pulley system to remove the elevator car and lift the body to the first floor, he said. Officials from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration were called in to interview representatives of the elevator repair company and Discover Card to determine why the repairman was there and how the accident happened, Kruger said. The Lake County coroner's office removed the body, he said.
UPDATE, OSHA clears J.R. Wheel for restart; Worker at the factory was killed over weekend in incident with robot
BY STEPHEN DYER, Beacon Journal staff writer
NORTON: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has allowed J.R. Wheel to start making wheels again. A robot at the factory killed a worker over the weekend, but OSHA officials said employees should not be concerned that a similar incident could happen again. ``We are comfortable that they have proper lockout procedures,'' said OSHA's Clevelandarea Director Rob Medlock. The agency has determined that the robot on which Tyron Watson, 48, was working early Saturday morning was not properly ``de-energized.'' So when he walked into the cage that houses the robot to work on it, the robot re-activated and smashed him into a conveyor belt, killing him. Medlock said the company has a proper ``lockout'' procedure that, if followed, would make the robot immobile and incapable of functioning when a human is in the cage. The operator has to put a lock on the machine so it can't ``energize,'' Medlock said. Lonnie Hinton, J.R. Wheel's human resources director, said the company received the go-ahead to resume operations from OSHA on Monday afternoon. He said the company has set up grief counseling sessions with employees as they return to work. Some workers have taken advantage of the sessions, he said. Other employees apparently remain fearful of returning to work. The wife of an employee said yesterday that she won't let her husband return to work until she is satisfied Saturday's tragedy can't happen again. ``I've seen (robots) just start flinging wheels (in the cage),'' said the woman, who asked to remain anonymous to protect her husband's identity. ``It's basically a human being. You can trust them, but you've just got to know what you're doing.'' Medlock said the agency will take several weeks to determine, among other things, if Saturday's accident was caused by operator error, or if the company's procedures at the time were inadequate to avoid the accident.
Robot kills factory worker
Machine pins Akron employee at J.R. Wheel in Norton. Accident under investigation by county, state agencies
BY STEPHEN DYER, Beacon Journal staff writer
NORTON: An Akron man was killed yesterday morning when he was crushed by a manufacturing robot at a Norton wheel plant.The industrial accident killed Tyrone Watson, a polishing operator, shortly after 6 a.m. at J.R. Wheel on Wooster Road.Watson, 48, died when a robot that is used to pick up wheels and drop them into a polishing machine caught the worker and pinned him against a conveyor belt. A friend who had stopped at the plant to pick up Watson at 7 a.m. broke the news to his mother. ``I asked him, `Where's Tyrone?' '' Watson's mother, June Watson, said. ``He told me he was dead.'' The 71-year-old mother said she believes the company should have called to tell her about the accident. ``I think it's terrible they didn't call,'' she said. Lonnie Hinton, director of J.R. Wheel's human resources department, said yesterday that the company did directly contact the family about Watson's death. Watson had recently returned to J.R. Wheel -- a company he worked for several years ago. ``He works all the time,'' said June Watson. Her son was planning to buy a new house. He was staying with his mother until then. His mother said Watson had five children. He was married, but has been separated from his wife for several years, she said. The Summit County Medical Examiner's Office is handling the investigation on death. Spokesman David Turney said no ruling would be made until toxicology and other reports are returned to the office, which could take several weeks. Hinton said the plant will be shut down until the Occupational Safety & Health Administration completes its investigation of the accident. OSHA officials couldn't be reached for comment. yesterday. The agency noted several serious violations of its policies at J.R. Wheel in 1999, including one for violating its standards for abrasive wheel machinery. The other violations were for electrical and welding systems. Those violations were settled and this year the company passed an unannounced OSHA inspection, according to the agency's Web site. There were no accident investigations for the company in the agency's database. According to OSHA statistics, 17 people were killed in 2000 at motor vehicle parts manufacturers such as J.R. Wheel. June Watson said her son's funeral arrangements are being handled by Stewart & Calhoun funeral home in Akron.
Second day a health hazard
In two separate accidents, two Victorians have been seriously injured on their second day of work. One of the men, a factory hand, lost his right arm when it was caught in the dough machine he was operating. WorkSafe inspectors have since placed a prohibition notice on the dough machine. In the second accident, a new employee at Santini Constructions was hit by a bobcat bearing a one tonne load of crushed rock. WorkSafe Victoria says that a construction wheelbarrow the man was pushing at the time appears to have absorbed the majority of the weight, resulting in "an unbelievably fortunate escape for the worker involved". However, the man sustained pelvic injuries, broken ribs and suspected head injuries. In the same week, a fruitier was killed when he was hit by a vehicle at Footscray's Fruit & Veg market. The fatality takes the death toll involving forklifts and stock tug vehicles since 1985 to 47.
Lukens woman killed on job
By Bajeerah Lowe, Staff Writer, December 19, 2001
VALLEY -- A press operator at Bethlehem-Lukens Plate was killed on the job Monday evening. Wanda Smith, 41, was pronounced dead on the scene by plant safety personnel after being crushed near an annealing press where she was performing final flattening of plate products, according to a statement from Bethlehem spokeswoman Bette Kovach. Dr. Rodger Rothenberger, Chester County coroner, said around 5 p.m. on Monday Smith was killed instantly after being pinned under a moving transfer car that weighed between 9,000 and 10,000 pounds. He said the car appeared to become activated after a switch malfunctioned. "This was a switch the foreman found a problem with earlier in the day," said Rothenberger. "No one was supposed to be around there. We're not sure why she was back there." He said the accident was not witnessed. Investigations are being conducted by a joint union/management safety committee and the Chester County coroner's office. An autopsy will be performed today. Domenick Salvatore, assistant area director of the Philadelphia-area office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, confirmed his office will also have an open investigation into the death. "We are mandated by law to conduct an investigation anytime there is a fatality," Salvatore said. According to Bethlehem officials, Smith, of Coatesville, was hired by the plant in January 1998. "We are deeply saddened by her loss," said Van R. Reiner, president of the Sparrows Point division, which is responsible for the Coatesville operations, in a statement. "She was well-respected and well-liked by the entire operation. We extend our deepest sympathies to her family at this difficult time." Two other Bethlehem-Lukens employees were taken to Brandywine Hospital for observation following the discovery of Smith, said the statement from Kovach. The current status of the two employees was not available at press time. Phone calls to Kovach were not immediately returned.
Steelworker killed in machine; Death is Stelco's first since 1995
HAMILTON - A 34-year employee of Stelco was killed yesterday morning when he became entangled in equipment at a bar mill just minutes after starting his shift. Jeffery David Turner, a 57 year-old father of four, died shortly after 6 a.m. after trying to remove loose bars from a bundling machine at Hilton Works No. 1 Bar Mill. Hilton Works spokesman Roger Fulton said it's unclear how Turner became trapped in the machine, which packages steel bars in preparation for shipping. He said Turner had worked with the machine for years, and was one of the first employees trained on it. "He's an experienced operator there,'' Fulton said. "This is an extremely upsetting event for everyone at Hilton Works.'' Fulton said the machine appeared to be operating normally. The Ministry of Labour, who is investigating the accident along with the police and Stelco's joint occupational health and safety committee, has issued a stop work order on the bundling machine until they get a report from an engineer certifying that it's safe. Turner, who has two children and two step-children, had just relieved a co-worker when the accident happened. He was pronounced dead at the scene after being discovered by a co-worker. His step-daughter Stacey Long said Turner led a quiet life along with his children, aged 16, 22, 29 and 31. "He took care of his family. He took good care of my mom.'' She said the Turners had just put up their Christmas tree in their Mountain bungalow, and looking at it as family and friends gathered yesterday made the painful news about his absence sink in. John Wordock, a retired Stelco employee who had worked with Turner, called the ex-U.S. marine a dedicated family man and an excellent union steward. "He was the type of guy you'd want to represent the guys in the plant. He could get along with almost anybody,'' said Wordock. The last fatality at Stelco was in 1995 when a worker was electrocuted.
UPDATE, Fulton, N.Y. Chocolate plant cited by OSHA following amputation
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A Fulton, N.Y., candy company's failure to provide adequate machine guarding is among 32 alleged violations cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration following the agency's inspection of a June 12 accident in which a worker's arm was amputated in a machine. OSHA cited Nestle Confections and Snacks and proposed penalties of $62,450 for 27 alleged serious violations, two alleged repeat violations and three alleged other-than-serious violations of standards. Among the alleged serious violations for which the employer was cited was failure to provide adequate machine guarding for a variety of equipment, including rotating horizontal shafts, belts and pulleys. The serious violations carry a total proposed penalty of $44,950, according to OSHA area director Diane Brayden. The plant was also cited for failing to label chemical containers with the identity of their contents and failing to post warning notices on hazardous confined spaces. Both were alleged repeat violations with a total proposed penalty of $17,500. The employer was previously cited for similar conditions at the plant in March, 2000. OSHA also issued citations for failing to determine safe floor loads on an upper floor, failing to maintain fire alarms, and unsafe stacking of pallets and other materials. The three alleged violations were classified as other-than-serious. A serious violation is defined as a condition which exists where there is a substantial possibility that death or serious physical harm can result. An other-than-serious violation is a hazardous condition that would probably not cause death or serious physical harm but would have a direct and immediate relationship to the safety and health of employees. The investigation was conducted by OSHA's Syracuse area office, located at 3300 Vickery Road, North Syracuse, N.Y., telephone (315) 451-0808. Nestle Confections and Snacks, of 555 South Forth St., Fulton, has until Dec. 18 to contest the citations.
Company fined over work accident
A Hastings company must pay $7,500 to a woman who was scalped by machinery in a work place accident. Crasborn Packing Ltd was fined after Judge Perkins found it had not taken all the steps necessary to provide the victim with a safe working environment. The woman had been sorting apples when one became jammed in the conveyer system. She went under the machine to try to dislodge the apple when her hair became entangled, and as she tried to free herself her hand also became caught. The victim was scalped and suffered severe lacerations to her hand, including losing part of her right thumb. Murray Thomson from Occupational Safety and Health in Hawke's Bay says companies should ensure that workers cannot reach dangerous parts of machinery. He says policies preventing workers from doing so are not sufficient. Thomson says Judge Perkins indicated other packing houses should note that if a similar accident happens again they could face a far more substantial fine.
Man dies after getting trapped in equipment
Victim was cleaning chicken-cutting device; circumstances unclear
By HEATHER HOWARD
MARSHVILLE -- A maintenance worker died Monday night after he was caught in a machine at a Union County poultry processing plant, officials said. Workers found Favian Paz, 23, of Monroe about 8 p.m. at the Pilgrim's Pride processing plant in Marshville in eastern Union County, said Marshville Police Chief Mike Gaddy. Paz was pronounced dead at the scene, Gaddy said. His death appears to have been an accident, and officials do not suspect foul play. Paz's body has been sent to Raleigh for an autopsy, Gaddy said. Paz worked for a Greensboro-based contracting company that provides maintenance work for the processing plant, Gaddy said. He had been cleaning a machine that halves chickens when he apparently got caught in the equipment. No one saw the accident, and it was unclear how Paz became trapped in the machine, Gaddy said. "We're unsure how he got caught up," Gaddy said. "We don't know if he fell into it or his clothes got grabbed." An inspector with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration visited the plant Tuesday and found no problems with the halving machine, Gaddy said. The Pilgrim's Pride poultry processing facility - formerly the Wampler Longacre Poultry Processing Plant - is Marshville's largest employer. Ray Atkinson, a public relations manager for Pilgrim's Pride, said the company is still conducting its own investigation and declined at this time to comment further.
BHP fined for coal accident at Port Kembla
BHP has been fined $200,000 over a workplace accident, which occurred three years ago at its Port Kembla steelworks. A worker was knocked down by an avalanche of fluidised coal while cleaning a conveyor belt. The employee suffered a dislocated shoulder in the incident. BHP pleaded guilty to a breach of occupational health and safety laws before the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission. WorkCover told the court, the risk factors contributing to the accident were serious enough to cause a fatality and should have been foreseen.
Borger man dies in accident at Agrium plant
BORGER - A Borger man died early Monday in an Agrium U.S. Inc. plant accident that severed an artery in his leg, said Steve Psutka, manager of the Borger nitrogen operation. Melvin Clark, 59, died at the scene of the accident at the company's urea plant just off Farm-to-Market Road 1551, Psutka said. The fertilizer plant had just restarted operations after a month of shutdown, he said. About 2 a.m. Monday, Clark was working on a compressor that had developed problems after the plant's restart, Psutka said. When he removed nuts from the bolts holding a valve cover plate, the cover plate blew off the valve and struck Clark in the upper leg, Psutka said. A mechanic and an operator in the area provided immediate medical assistance to no avail, Psutka said. No one else was injured in the accident. The urea plant has stopped operations while the company investigates, Psutka said. The anhydrous ammonia plant, located on the same grounds, remains open, he said.
Ford fined £20k for lost finger accident
Oct 8 2001
FORD has been fined £20,000 after a factory worker lost a finger.The worker had his finger amputated after working on an unguarded drill. It happened a year ago at the car manufacturer's plant in Croydon, South London. Ford was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive, and pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act. HSE inspector Catherine Jeffs says,"A company of the size and stature of Ford should be leading the way in health and safety, with minimal intervention from the HSE."Instead they fell far short of the required standard." Ford has released a statement saying ,"We deeply regret the injury and have agreed liability in this case. "Nothing is more important to Ford than the safety and well-being of our staff and we are proud of our safety record. "We have taken the necessary action to ensure nothing like this happens again."
Repairman Dies Under Escalator
Safety: Norco man working in Central Courthouse is trapped when power comes on.
By MAI TRAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER
A worker repairing an escalator at Santa Ana's Central Courthouse was killed Thursday when the power to the stairs was turned on, trapping him underneath. Mark Pillitiere, 37, of Norco was standing in a 3-foot by 5-foot space under the "down" side of the stairs about 11:30 a.m. When the escalator came on, Pillitiere was trapped between the structural support and the metal mechanism. Within 30 seconds, an Orange County sheriff's security deputy who heard the man's cries turned off the emergency power switch. A Santa Ana Fire Department crew responded within three minutes, but the worker was dead at the scene with massive injuries, authorities said. Pillitiere was a contractor for the courthouse through Fujitec America Inc. in Torrance, where he had worked for three months. His co-worker on the Santa Ana job was not injured. "We're investigating to see what caused the power to come on," Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino said. Emergency power switches are at the top and bottom of the escalators, and a main power switch at the top can be operated only with a key, he said. The Sheriff's Department and the California Division of Occupational, Safety and Health, which monitors workplace injuries, are conducting independent investigations, authorities said.
Man rescued from compactor Saturday, August 25, 2001, By Tom Murphy
Jeffrey MacDaniels of Rome became trapped in machine while attempting to repair it.A Rome man escaped serious injury Thursday evening after his arms became trapped in a trash compactor at a Rite Aid distribution center in the city.Jeffrey S. MacDaniels' upper body kept him from being pulled into the compactor after he fell onto a conveyor belt and his hands and arms became ensnared in the machinery, according to an Oneida County Sheriff's Department news release.MacDaniels, 23, a maintenance man at the center, was trying to fix a problem with the compactor when the accident happened around 7:50 p.m.Undersheriff Peter Paravati said MacDaniels climbed a ladder above the machine to listen for a strange noise.He left the machine running so he could hear the problem.MacDaniels was standing on the ladder, which was on the compacting machine. He was trying to maneuver a bar on the machine when his right hand became stuck in the machine, the release stated.His other hand also became stuck between the compactor's large rollers and a conveyor belt.Co-workers stopped the machine and rescued MacDaniels.An ambulance then took him to Rome City Hospital.Hospital officials said he was treated and released.Paravati said MacDaniels' employers told deputies they would notify the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration about the accident.
DaimlerChrysler to pay safety violation fine in worker death The Associated Press
TOLEDO, Ohio (August 23, 2001 1:38 p.m. EDT) - DaimlerChrysler AG has agreed to pay a $153,000 fine for safety violations uncovered after a machine repairman died at an automobile plant last year.Lazaro Fuentes Sr., 50, died when a conveyer line suddenly started as he made repairs on a nearby robot. Fuentes was pulled into the system and crushed.Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors said faulty wiring and poor implementation of machinery shutdown procedures contributed to the May 2000 accident.The company agreed to test and train workers on safety procedures.The Jeep plant opened in 1911 and is the nation's oldest auto assembly factory. Since the former Chrysler Corp. acquired the plant in 1987, OSHA has cited the factory for 130 safety violations.
Hefty fine for work accident The Occupational Safety and Health Service has welcomed the $20,000 sentencing of a Kawerau company after a man suffered serious burns in an accident last year.Norkse Skog Tasman Ltd contracted the engineering firm the man worked for to carry out maintenance work at its pulp mill last August. But when the man removed a valve from machinery hot pulp poured out, inflicting him with severe burns to 30 percent of his body, including his hands.Murray Thompson, OSH service manager for the Taupo-Eastern Bay of Plenty region, says the heavy fine - $15,000 of which will go to the victim - sends a strong message to employers. He says they must take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of employees and contractors on their site.Thompson says a year on from the accident the man faces the next 18 months in a pressure suit and is unlikely to return to full capacity work
UPDATE, OSHA fines Owens Corning in Denver
Owens Corning has been cited with three violations, potentially carrying fines totaling $130,000, by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in connection with an accident at its Denver plant in February in which an employee lost an arm.The company received citations for two willful violations and one serious violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. OSHA inspectors said they found inadequate machine guarding on asphalt shingle manufacturing equipment."An employee lost his arm and other employees were exposed to serious machine guarding hazards because this employer did not address recognized hazards prior to the accident," Herb Gibson, acting OSHA area director in Denver, said in a statement.OSHA's citation for failing to guard sprocket wheels and chains carries a $70,000 proposed penalty; the company's failure to guard rotating parts could carry fines totaling $60,000.Owens Corning has two weeks in which to contest the citations and fines.
Repairman receives serious shock on roof
By ALAN BURKE, News staff
PEABODY -- A critically injured air conditioning technician, struck by hundreds of volts of electricity, was rescued yesterday from a Centennial Park rooftop after he managed to call for help on his cell phone. The repairman, Edward Eastman, 37, of Methuen, was taken first to Salem Hospital and then to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition late last night.
Eastman, an independent contractor working on behalf of Associated Mechanical Industries in Woburn, was alone on the roof of FEI Company at 10 Technology Drive at the time of the accident. Exactly what brought him into contact with the electricity could not be determined yesterday. But workers inside the building knew at once that something was wrong. "I guess the lights flickered," said Ed Cahill of FEI. "That must have been when he was injured." On the loading dock, another employee heard a series of loud pops. According to Deputy Fire Chief Paul Hinchion, Eastman was hit with between 220 and 440 volts of electricity. "The electricity probably entered through his hands," he said. "He was working with his hands. Then it has to exit somewhere and it came out up near his neck. ... He got zapped pretty good." Eastman suffered significant blood loss through the wound on his neck, according to one witness. Stunned, he was nevertheless able to call 911 and report the accident. He could not make clear, however, which part of the huge roof he was on. But in a remarkable twist, workers at FEI were apparently listening to a scanner and realized that the accident had occurred above them. They also called 911, while alerting the dock workers. Eastman was located slumped alongside the air conditioning unit. A charred metal neck chain was found next to him. The Peabody Fire Department, along with Peabody Police and Northshore Ambulance, responded "within minutes," according Hinchion, reaching the roof and turning off the power. "He was still breathing, still talking to us," said EMT David Rowley. The air conditioning unit was found open, the no-longer-live wires exposed.
The fact that the victim remained conscious was encouraging, Rowley said. Moments after the accident, Eastman was being slowly, painstakingly lowered from the two-story brick building, down the gradual slope of a fire truck's ladder. His arms were raw and red from burns and blood, and he was moving occasionally. Employees of FEI stood about watching, grim faced. "It's extremely unsettling," said Eileen Boudreau of FEI, which produces semiconductors for computers. The building's air conditioning, she added, had been showing the stress of a long heat spell. The federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration and city officials have begun an investigation of the accident, according to police spokesman Sgt. Dennis Bonaiuto.
Man killed checking grain elevator By M.K. GUETERSLOH, Pontiac bureau chief
SAUNEMIN -- A Hopedale man was killed Tuesday as he conducted equipment safety checks at Saunemin Grain Co.Livingston County Coroner Michael P. Burke said Craig A. Springer, 23, died after he became caught in machinery in the south elevator.Rescuers found Springer at 10:23 a.m., Burke said. Springer was pronounced dead at the scene.Springer worked for a contractor who was hired to locate hot spots in the elevator's equipment, authorities said. The name of the contractor was not available.Springer was using infrared equipment to scan the elevator when the accident occurred. Burke did not know how Springer became caught in the machinery.Typically, the inspection allows elevators to detect machinery problems -- such as overheating bearings -- and repair them before an accident or fire, Burke said.Saunemin Fire Department was assisted by the Pontiac and Cullom fire departments.Livingston County Sheriff's Department and the coroner's office continue to investigate. An autopsy has been scheduled for today, and an inquest is pending.
Autopsy shows worker at Millville Airport was electrocuted
August 14, 2001 - 12:15 AM, By JOYCE VANAMAN, Staff Writer, (856) 825-2303 MILLVILLE - The result of an autopsy conducted this past weekend lists electrocution as the cause of death of Mark Voorhees Jr., who was working in an electrical vault at Millville Airport last Thursday.Glenn Nickerson, Cumberland County public information officer, said Monday the autopsy was conducted at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point by Dr. Elliot Gross, medical examiner for Cumberland and Cape May counties.Further study and investigation of the incident is being conducted under the direction of Col. John McCarnan, chief of police for the Delaware River and Bay Authority, which operates Millville Airport."We are conducting the investigation and evaluation of evidence," McCarnan said.Voorhees Jr., who would have been 34 this month, was employed by Gary Kubiak & Sons of Allentown, Monmouth County.Cumberland County Prosecutor Arthur Marchand, whose office worked with McCarnan, previously said it looked like Voorhees might have gotten a jolt and then drowned. There was some water in the vault.The victim was removed from the vault by workers and emergency medical personnel. Voorhees was transported to South Jersey Hospital-Newcomb Medical Center in Vineland by the Millville Rescue Squad and was pronounced dead a short time later.
10 treated in Institute chloroform leak Tuesday August 14, 2001, By Ken Ward Jr., STAFF WRITER
Ten workers were treated Monday by company medical staff after a leak of toxic chloroform at the Aventis chemical plant in Institute.About 170 pounds of chloroform leaked from a pipe during a maintenance job on the pipe, according to Aventis estimates.No injuries were immediately reported outside the plant gates.Aventis said that a mistake by a paging company inadvertently prompted a shelter in place at the nearby West Virginia Rehabilitation Center.A plant emergency alarm was activated about 8:45 a.m. The leak was under control in about 25 minutes, Aventis officials said. In a news release, Aventis said that eight company employees and two contractmaintenance workers were affected by the leak.Plant spokesman Hal Turley said that the contractors worked for Kellogg Brown & Root, a nonunion construction and maintenance company base in Texas.Turley said that the workers were doing routine maintenance in the plant's East Carbamolyation production unit. The Institute plant makes a type of pesticides known as Carbamates.According to Turley, workers opened one of the unit's pipes to begin maintenance on it. The pipe still had chemicals in it, and the chloroform leaked, Turley said.In the production unit, chloroform is used as a refrigerant."Of course, we're still investigating the cause of the leak," Turley said. Chloroform is a colorless liquid with a sweet odor. The chemical was formerly used as an anesthetic, but that use had been largely discontinued.Today, chloroform is used in the production of plastics and as an industrial solvent.It produces poisonous gas in a fire, and is unstable when exposed to air. When exposed to light or heat, it can break down to phosgene, hydrochloric acid and chlorine.Chloroform causes cancer, and can also damage the liver, kidneys, and nervous system. Contact with it can irritate the skin, causing a rash or burning feeling.Turley said that one of the Brown & Root workers was treated for minor burns.Plant medical staff saw eight of the other nine workers as a precaution. The other worker was treated for minor chemical exposure, Turley said."The vapors are much heavier than air, so the release hugged the ground," the company said in its news release. "The situation was brought under control by the site emergency squad using firewater and sprinkler systems to eliminate the vapors."Under federal law, leaks of 10 or more pounds of chloroform must be reported to regulators.Aventis said that the chloroform it released Monday "was released as a liquid to the ground and was largely contained within the unit."Aventis owns and operates the old Union Carbide Institute plant, which was bought in the mid-1980s by the French company Rhone-Poulenc Ag Co.In December 1999, Rhone-Poulenc merged with a German company to form Aventis.Since then, federal workplace safety officials have inspected the plant just once, according to U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration records. That inspection, in April, prompted no citations, OSHA records show.
OSHA CITES NEW JERSEY COMPANIES FOR SAFETY VIOLATIONS FOLLOWING INVESTIGATION OF AMPUTATION
Ronell Managed Services LLC, of Roselle, N.J. and Topps Meat Co. in Elizabeth, have been cited for safety violations, with total proposed penalties of $103,500, following investigation of an amputation at Topps Meat Co., the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced today.OSHA initiated its investigation in February, after a Ronell maintenance worker's arm was severed as he was cleaning a mixer-blender. The Labor Department agency charged Ronell Managed Services with one alleged willful and four alleged serious violations of OSHA standards, according to Robert D. Kulick, OSHA's area director in Avenel, N.J.Ronell was cited for failing to ensure that employees used lockout/tagout devices on machinery, an alleged willful violation carrying a total proposed penalty of $70,000.Alleged serious violations, with a total proposed penalty of $20,000, were issued for:
·failure to conduct periodic inspections of energy control procedures.
·failure to properly train employees required to clean machines about how to recognize and isolate energy sources.
·failure to inform the on-site (host) employer about lock/out procedures.
·failure to ensure that disconnects for machines were properly marked.
The host employer, Topps Meat Co. of NJ Inc., received citations for six alleged serious violations, with total proposed penalties of $13,500, for:
·failure to keep obstructions away from emergency exits.
·failure to provide locks for employees responsible for dismantling and cleaning machines.
·failure to conduct an annual review of lockout procedures and train employees in the procedures.
·failure to apply locks on machinery disconnects prior to cleaning.
·failure to properly guard rotating machinery parts.
·failure to label disconnecting boxes and provide a continuous ground path.
Topps Meat was also cited for failure to post and to certify the required OSHA log of injuries and illnesses at the workplace. The two other-than-serious citations carried no monetary penalty.A willful violation is defined by OSHA as one committed with an intentional disregard for, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the OSH act and regulations. A serious violation is defined as a condition where there is a substantial possibility that death or serious physical harm can result. An other-than-serious violation is a hazardous condition that would probably not cause death or serious physical harm, but would have a direct and immediate relationship to the safety and health of employees.The investigation was conducted by OSHA's Avenel area office, located at 1030 St. George Avenue, Suite 205, Avenel, N. J. Telephone: 732-750-3270.Ronnell Managed Services LLC, of 298 Cox St., Roselle, and Topps Meat Co. of 1161 E. Broad St., Elizabeth, have until Aug. 22 to contest the citations.
Plumber killed in flat
A plumber has died after being involved in a freak accident while working on a central heating system in a flat. It appears that James Duncan, 55, who had been working alone, was electrocuted. He was found in the bathroom of a flat in Thomson Street, Aberdeen, by the owner of the property. Emergency services who were immediately called to the scene of the tragedy battled to revive Mr Duncan, but were unsuccessful.
The plumber, who had run his own business in the city for a number of years, was well-known throughout the city. Grampian Police and the health and safety executive are investigating the accident and a post mortem will be carried out. A spokesman for the police said: "It is not known how long a period of time there was between the occupier leaving him to get on with the task and him returning to the flat around 2pm to make the discovery."
Man hurt when electricity flows in line under repair
A utility worker was seriously injured Wednesday after receiving an electric shock at an apartment complex in northern Charlotte, authorities said. The worker, identified by police as 48-year-old Roger Crump, was working on an underground power line in a hole near the intersection of Canterwood Drive and Elgywood Lane about 1:45 p.m. Somehow, the power was turned on, police said. Several co-workers rushed to help Crump, a Pike Electrical Co. employee. The Charlotte man had stopped breathing before co-workers and paramedics resuscitated him. Medic took Crump to Carolinas Medical Center, where he was in serious condition late Wednesday. The incident occurred at the Maple Run Apartments in the Hidden Valley community. Officials from the N.C. office of the Occupational Safety & Health Administration are investigating.
2 workers burned in electrical accident
By Cass Peterson, Daily Record
EAST HANOVER — An electrical accident left two workmen critically burned Tuesday morning at a pharmaceutical business on DeForest Avenue.Ralph Newhouse, 41, and Franco Augstan, 37, both of Elizabeth, were working on electrical equipment in the basement of a building at 44 DeForest Ave. about 8:22 a.m. when the accident occurred, police said. The building is occupied by Sidmak Laboratories Inc. East Hanover Lt. James Monaghan said both men were critically injured, Newhouse suffering burns over 50 percent of his body and Augstan over 14 percent of his body.Both were taken to the St. Barnabas Medical Center burn unit in Livingston, where both were listed in critical condition. Newhouse and Augstan were employed as electricians by Arco Electric of Elizabeth.The cause of the accident had not been determined Tuesday evening, and was under investigation by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office and East Hanover police, Monaghan said. Sidmak Laboratories, headquartered in East Hanover, is a maker of generic versions of widely known prescription drugs, including propranolol (Inderal), cimetidine (Tagamet), metronidazole (Flagyl) and cyclosporine (Neoral).
GM, state probing death of worker
Monday, July 23, 2001, By Chad Swiatecki , JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Flint - A 32-year General Motors employee, crushed to death in a press at the Flint Metal Center on Saturday, was experienced at changing dies in the presses, a GM spokeswoman said Sunday. Randy D. Wark, 52, of Essexville died about 4:30 p.m. when he was crushed between a transfer press and a die he was changing at the plant on W. Bristol Road. Wark was a die-setter leader who was assisting with a die-setting operation on overtime on Saturday. "He was a very experienced employee, and people there respected him and looked to him as a leader because he does this type of operation all the time," said Mary Irby, director of communications at the Metal Center. GM's internal team of investigators is looking into the accident, along with investigators from the Michigan Occupational Safety Hazard Administration. GM expects to complete its investigation early this week. "We're not ruling anything out, and we'll be conducting a full investigation to look into this," Irby said. "We have a good record of safety, and when an accident like this occurs, we look into every detail." Lori Donlan, a spokeswoman for the state Consumer and Industry Services division, said an investigator from her agency is reviewing the accident. The investigation could take several weeks, and will include a review of the plant's MIOSHA history, she said. GM is offering counseling to Wark's family and siblings, most of whom live near Bay City and Essexville. "We want to work hard to understand what happened, and in our conversations with his family, we've let them know how sorry we are for what happened," Irby said. "Everybody at Metal Fab talked so highly of him because he was such a hard worker that everyone looked up to." Wark's death is the first fatality at the metal stamping plant since 1988, when an employee was cutting wires on the roof, became entangled in some cut wires and was dragged off the roof. In 1973, an employee was crushed to death by a bulkhead being moved from a freight cart. Workers at the plant make a variety of sheet metal parts for various GM vehicles. Wark was an avid motorcyclist and fisherman. He leaves his parents, Ralph and Betty Wark of East Tawas, one brother and two sisters. His brother, Tommy, of Akron, Mich., said his brother's experience makes his death so puzzling to the family. "I'm shocked," said Tommy Wark, who works at GM Bay City Powertrain Division. "He's changed the dies hundreds of times." Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Unionville United Methodist Church in Unionville., with burial in Hickory Island Cemetery. Arrangments are being handled by the Briggs-Trenerry Funeral Chapel in Akron, Mich. Journal staff writer Marlon Vaughn contributed to this report. Information from Journal News Service also is included.
Miner dies in underground electrical accident
21 July 2001, By Roger Alford, Associated Press
PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- A coal miner was electrocuted Friday morning in an underground mine at Slemp. Gary R. Caudill Jr., 26, of Delphia, was pronounced dead at Blue Diamond Coal's No. 77 mine in southern Perry County. The fatality was the first in Kentucky's coal industry this year. Inspectors from the Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals and the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration are investigating the cause. Perry County Deputy Coroner Clayton Brown said Caudill, who had been a miner for five years, was working on an electrical panel that controlled a conveyor belt when the electrocution occurred about 2:45 a.m. Brown pronounced Caudill dead at the scene about 4 a.m. It was the first mine fatality in Kentucky since Oct. 4, 2000, said Cathy Prothro, spokeswoman for the Department of Mines and Minerals. "At this point last year there had been six fatalities," she said. Prothro said the safety of miners is a key concern for regulators in Kentucky, which has had more fatalities than any other state for the last three years. "As always our personnel are out there working hard to make sure every miner is performing his job safely," she said. MSHA, in a report released in January, said Kentucky accounted for about one-third of the 38 coal miners killed in the United States last year. Thirteen miners were killed in Kentucky mines; nine in West Virginia; four each in Virginia and Utah; two each in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Wyoming; and one each in Colorado and Indiana. The last time Kentucky had more than 13 mining deaths was 1993 when 18 miners were killed on the job. More stringent safety procedures and closer oversight by regulatory agencies have greatly decreased mine fatalities over previous decades. Nationally, more than 100 miners were killed each year through the 1970s. In the 1980s, the annual deaths ranged from 53 in 1988 to 125 in 1984. The number of fatalities nationally fell each year from 1990 through 1998, when they reached an all-time low of 29. In 1999, 35 miners died on the job.
Worker at library site electrocuted CULVER - A man working on the Culver Library expansion project was electrocuted Thursday.Marshall County Coroner John Grolich said Clairance Strawderman, 45, of Walkerton, was pronounced dead on arrival at Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, Inc. - Plymouth Campus.Strawderman was employed by W.A. Sheets and Sons of Fort Wayne, one of the contractors working on the library project.The Culver-Union Township Library is being expanded from 4,500 square feet to more than 19,000 square feet in order to meet the needs of the library for the next 20-30 years.The construction project is expected to last between 12 and 15 months.Strawderman was reportedly working with a pumping device to pour concrete walls. Witnesses at the scene said Strawderman did not come in contact with power lines. Investigators believe he may have come too close to the lines and was electrocuted.Efforts were made to revive him at the scene. A 911 call was made to Culver Police, Fire and EMS, but he died before emergency rescue personnel arrived.The incident remains under investigation by the Marshall County Coroner's office.
Machine worker dies from injury; State investigates Chandler accident
By Carlos Miller, The Arizona Republic, July 18, 2001
CHANDLER - A construction worker whose legs were severely mangled in an accident at the Chandler Fashion Center site died Tuesday, prompting an investigation by the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health. George Luna, 60, died less than 24 hours after falling into an idling piece of heavy machinery used to mix materials on construction sites. It took rescuers and fellow workers 40 minutes to take the machine apart and free the east Mesa man. He died at Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix after undergoing surgery for severe injuries to his lower body. "Our main focus will be to determine if there are any violations of the occupation and health standards," said Darin Perkins, director of the state safety and health agency. The agency will investigate Luna's employer, Wheeler Construction Inc. of Phoenix, to determine whether the boring machine was guarded properly, whether Luna was trained properly to operate the machine and whether it is procedure to leave the machine idling when it isn't in use. Authorities are still trying to determine what caused Luna's accident. Officials from Wheeler Construction declined comment. The agency has inspected Wheeler Construction sites several times in the past, but found violations only once, for two minor infractions in 1983. The investigation in Luna's case may take up to three months. Neighbor Eugene Wamsley remembers Luna as a friendly man who always stopped his yard work to wave or holler out a greeting. He also helped his friends.
Final UPDATE, Bakery fined for employees' oven deaths
The two men were carrying out maintenance work
A bakery company and three company directors have been fined #373,000 after two workers died inside a bread oven. The men were carrying out maintenance work when they became trapped inside the machine where temperatures were above 100C. They died from burns and heat exposure after being unable to escape. Fresha Bakeries, trading as Harvestime Bakeries had admitted breaching health and safety regulations. David Mayes, 47, of Rushey Mead, Leicester, and Ian Erickson, 43, an engineer from Walsall, West Midlands, died after maintenance on the bread oven went wrong at Harvestime's plant in Thurmaston Boulevard, Leicester in May 1998. The men were sent into the oven only two hours after it had been switched off. They climbed in through the bottom and onto a conveyor used to take the dough through the giant machine. All they were wearing for protection were all-in-one suits. Anthony Barker QC, prosecuting, said: "The oven was normally set to run at 260C. It had only been turned off for two hours and the centre was 100C when these two men went inside. "No-one, it seemed, looked at the temperature gauge at the side of the oven which would have indicated it wasn't safe to go in." Mr Erickson, had taken a radio with him and after a few minutes inside sent a panicky message saying it was too hot. "They were trapped. There was no system of reversing the conveyor and no system of getting them out of the oven," said Mr Barker. It took 17 minutes - the time it took for the conveyor to pass through the oven - before other workers could help the men. Mr Erickson was brought out in "a state of collapse" and had extensive burns. Mr Mayes was trapped inside the oven and had to be freed by the fire service. He had 80% burns to his body and died at the scene. John Bridson, 54, of Hale, the managing director of Fresha Limited, the company which owns the bakery, admitted two charges of failing to provide a safe system of work. The production director, Brian Jones, 60, of Hertford, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to a single count of the same offence. The chief engineer, Dennis Masters, 45, of Mountsorrel, admitted one charge of failing to take reasonable care for others at work. Fresha Bakeries were fined a total of #250,000 and ordered to pay costs of #175,000. The firm's owners, Harvestime Ltd, of Walsall, West Midlands, was fined a total of #100,000 and made to pay costs of #75,000. Mr Bridson was fined #20,000 and ordered to pay costs of #5,000. Mr Jones was fined #1,000 and Mr Masters #2,000 because of their financial means. They also escaped having to pay costs. The prosecution followed a joint investigation by the Health and Safety Executive and Leicestershire Police.
TRACK WORKER ELECTROCUTED
By DAN MANGAN
July 18, 2001 -- A subway track worker was killed yesterday morning after falling onto an electrified third rail in Queens. Samuel McPhaul, 49, of Elmhurst, had been working as a flagman for a track crew at 2 a.m. when he died, said TA spokeswoman Deirdre Parker. McPhaul was pronounced dead at the scene, about 100 feet north of the Grand Avenue station. Service was disrupted on the line for about two hours, Parker said. John Samuelsen, the Transit Workers Union's track division chairman, said it was the first track-worker death since 1997.
UPDATE, Oven deaths sentencing due
Monday, 16 July, 2001, 14:53 GMT 15:53 UK
A bakery company and three of its directors are awaiting sentencing after two men were killed in an industrial bread oven. The two were carrying out maintenance work when they became trapped and were carried through the 75 foot oven on a conveyer belt. Unable to escape, they died from burns and heat exposure. Fresha Bakeries, trading as Harvestime Bakeries, pleaded guilty to four counts of failing to provide a safe system of work. David Mayes, 47, of Rushey Mead, Leicester, and Ian Erickson, 43, an engineer from Walsall, West Midlands, died after maintenance on the bread oven went wrong at Harvestime's plant in Thurmaston Boulevard, Leicester in May 1998. The men, who were trying to retrieve a broken part, became trapped as temperatures inside the bread oven rose to 100C. Three company directors pleaded guilty charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. John Bridson, 54, of Hale, the managing director of Fresha Limited, the company which owns the bakery, admitted two charges of failing to provide a safe system of work. The production director, Brian Jones, 60, of Hertford, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to a single count of the same offence. The chief engineer, Dennis Masters, 45, of Mountsorrel, admitted one charge of failing to take reasonable care for others at work. The company and directors were being sentenced at Leicester Crown Court on Monday. The prosecution followed a joint investigation by the Health and Safety Executive and Leicestershire police.
Farmer Recovering After Baler Accident
Doctor Expected To Update Condition Friday
NEW MARKET, Minn., 6:23 p.m. CDT July 13, 2001 -- A New Market farmer who amputated his arm to save his life continued to recover Friday at a hospital.Doctors said Friday afternoon that Jarrod Wagner's chances of recovery are "good." He has undergone two lengthy surgeries."It was a very bad injury on a relative scale," Dr. Gregory Mesna said. "He's doing very well from my standpoint. This is a very strong individual. We're trying to save and preserve as much of the arm that's left as we can. That way, he'll have as much function as he can."Wagner, 34, was working with a hay baler Tuesday night when a clump of hay clogged the machine. He reached inside to remove the obstruction, but his left arm was caught.Wagner was slowly being pulled in and struggled to free himself for about 15 minutes. Wagner broke his arm by kicking at it with his leg. With his free arm, he grabbed the protective headphones he was wearing to ward off the noise of the machine and used a piece of metal from them to saw off his trapped left arm below the elbow.He drove a nearby tractor about 300 yards to his father and best friend. Wagner and his friend went to Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville while his father hunted for his forearm. His father found the arm, but it was too damaged to be reattached. From the Burnsville hospital, Wagner was taken by medical helicopter to North Memorial Medical Center, where surgeons worked on him for four hours.The limb could not be reattached, and doctors said that they might need to remove more of his arm. If an artificial limb can be fitted, Wagner might have surgery next week.
MAN SURVIVES SHRED HORROR
By ERIC LENKOWITZ
June 17, 2001 -- A Long Island man miraculously escaped being crushed to death by the industrial wood shredder he was repairing yesterday, authorities said. Someone mistakenly turned on the machine when Edwin Rolando Parra, 29, was inside, cops said. It wasn't until a co-worker heard Parra's cries from inside the machine's hopper that it was shut down and his colleagues freed him, cops said. Parra, a mechanic for the last three months at Global Land Materials, was rushed to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery for severe chest injuries, said police. He was in critical but stable condition last night. "He was very lucky," a Brookhaven doctor told The Post. Parra, an Ecuadorian immigrant, has been living with his sister in Long Island since moving from Peekskill.
Man loses arm in auger
By Susan C. Nicol, News-Post Staff
BUCKEYSTOWN - Local rescue personnel said it took a cooperative effort to extricate a man's arm from an auger in a large machine at Alcoa Eastalco Works on Monday morning. Ed Stavish, a maintenance supervisor in the Central Maintenance Shop at Eastalco, was undergoing treatment Monday night at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Baltimore. His lower left arm was amputated, doctors said. Mr. Stavish's left arm was caught in an auger that pulled him in up to the shoulder before co-workers could get the machine shut off, said Earl Robbins, an Eastalco spokesman. Investigators with Maryland Occupation Safety and Health agency were on the scene and are conducting a probe, Mr. Robbins said. Carroll Manor Fire Chief Allen Keyser said he immediately realized his crew was faced with an intricate operation. The 20-foot auger is made of special steel, and rescue personnel soon found out it was no match for their sawblades. Paramedics, and later a special team from R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, monitored Mr. Stavish's vital signs and administered intravenous fluids while the extrication effort proceeded. Realizing they were involved in a lengthy rescue with an unstable patient, the chief said he requested the "Go Team" from R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. The "Go Team" is a rapid response team that consists of a surgeon, a nurse-anesthetist and a senior attending physician that respond to support local emergency medical personnel, said Dr. Andrew Pollak, the director. Dr. Pollak said Mr. Stavish remained conscious and alert throughout the ordeal. Amputating limbs in the field is rare and done as a last resort, Dr. Pollak said, but it's something the team is prepared to do. With Mr. Stavish's arm caught in the position it was, Dr. Pollak said it was difficult to determine the severity of the bleeding. Once Mr. Stavish was freed, Dr. Pollak said a tourniquet was applied. He was flown to the trauma center and rushed into surgery. However, the damage to his arm was too severe to save it. Chief Keyser said Eastalco workers pitched in to help and brought in special tools to cut the auger apart. "I asked for their best cutter, and he did a hell of a job," he said. "There were a lot of different things facing all of us." Rescue personnel involved in the extrication had to wear protective gear including breathing apparatus for a while because of the dangerous dust in the immediate area. "It was really hot in there, too," Chief Keyser said. Both the chief and the doctor said they were pleased with the cooperative effort. "I just don't have the words to explain how everyone worked as a team," Chief Keyser said. "... That's what it's all about."
Springfield worker killed in accident
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- A worker was killed early Saturday after he became trapped in a machine that cuts rubber into strips, police said. A medical examiner said Gary Johnson, 34, died instantly at the Dayco Rubber plant, which produces rubber belts for the automotive industry. Johnson suffered massive injuries to his head and chest.
UPDATE:OSHA fines Clinton Nurseries for March incident
A Nestle employee lost at least one finger and part of his right hand Tuesday afternoon while working at the Fulton plant, city firefighters and witnesses said. The man, whose name was not immediately available, hollered as his hand got caught in a machine, said a maintenance worker who asked to remain anonymous. About 2:20 p.m., a co-worker heard him yell and stopped the auger, a screwlike machine that mixes chocolate, the maintenance worker said. Then the maintenance worker called for help. Menter Ambulance treated the man in an ambulance outside the plant's Fay Street entrance. Emergency crews brought the man to the River Glen Plaza parking lot, where a Mercy Flight helicopter met them. The helicopter then took the man to University Hospital, Fulton Assistant Fire Chief Dana Smith said. Before rescue crews arrived, the man was conscious and slumped over the machine in the refining room, the maintenance worker said. Several maintenance and production workers were able to free the man's hand from the machine. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Nestle are investigating the matter, said Nestle representative Tricia Bowles. Nestle also is offering counseling to its employees, she said. Police and fire officials were called to the scene, but they are no longer investigating the incident, Fulton police Investigator Dean Burridge said. Local 1974 of the United Food and Chocolate Workers President Fred DeMauro was unavailable for comment Tuesday. The Fulton plant is the oldest chocolate factory in the United States and in the 1960s employed as many as 1,500 workers. Today, it employs 550.
Worker scalped when hair gets caught in machine
TAVARES, Fla. -- (AP) -- A worker underwent hours of surgery after a drill machine ripped off her hair and scalp at a manufacturing plant. Norma Miller, 49, of Ferndale, was cleaning out a drill-component machine when a rotating bar grabbed her hair from the front, entangling it. The machine tore off her hair and scalp from her forehead to the back of her neck. ``It happened so fast,'' Miller said Tuesday from her hospital room at Orlando Regional Medical Center. ``Snap your fingers. It was that fast.'' Miller said she was wearing her hair in a bun when the accident occurred Thursday at the Qualtool manufacturing plant in Tavares, northwest of Orlando. She said she was working on a new machine that did not have a protective guard or shield. A Qualtool official said the company would not comment on the incident. After the accident, workers wrapped Miller's head in ice and towels. She was taken by helicopter to the hospital, where she underwent surgery. Doctors reattached portions of her scalp and hair around her forehead, ears and the back of her neck. ``I look at it this way: I'm alive,'' Miller said. ``It could have killed me.'' Miller, who started working at the plant in August, said she faces several more operations, including a skin graft. Dr. Frank Stieg, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon in Winter Park, said such accidents are not common in American factories because of government regulations promoting workplace safety.
Man killed in industrial accident
By Dustin Block, May 22, 2001
STURTEVANT - A man was killed Tuesday afternoon at Rohner Asphalt and Grading Contractors while cleaning an industrial machine. Sturtevant Police Chief Art Scola said the man was crushed and died instantly. Police are not releasing his name pending notification of his family. Scola said the man was standing inside of an asphalt crusher and removing pieces of asphalt when the accident occurred. The machine was turned off, but apparently as the victim worked a large blade rotated and trapped him. "Basically this was a tragic industrial accident," Scola said, who added the circumstances were "very unusual." "This gentleman had been working with this type of machinery for the last 15 years," he said. The accident occurred at about 1:30 p.m. Sturtevant police and fire responded, as did Flight for Life, the Racine County medical examiner and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Rohner Asphalt and Grade is located at 9615 Charles St.
Supervisor's lower body crushed at asphalt plant
By WARREN DUZAK Staff Writer
An afternoon accident yesterday at a Nashville asphalt plant was the kind of nightmare that haunts those who work with heavy machinery. A supervisor at the HMA Products asphalt plant along Whites Creek Pike either slipped or was pulled into a crushing device that smashed his left leg, tore open his stomach and left him bleeding badly and trapped in the metal jaws. ''By the time he ends up at Vanderbilt Hospital without losing a leg, it will be a miracle,'' Emergency Medical Services Assistant Chief Robert E. Brooks said. '''He is in extremely critical condition.'' R.L. Alvis Jr., 57, of Lebanon, was carried by LifeFlight helicopter to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition last night. The accident, which occurred at 4 p.m., left emergency personnel with a difficult decision. Confronted with trying to remove Alvis from the machinery, they considered an emergency amputation to extract him. At one point they advised Vanderbilt Medical Center to dispatch a physician with the helicopter in the event an on-site amputation became necessary at the plant site. ''When you are dealing with heavy machinery where someone its trapped, it's not like taking a door off a car,'' Brooks said. ''You have to literally dismantle it.'' He praised emergency technicians who were able to extract the victim in only 20 minutes. HMA Chief Manager Mann Pendleton said Alvis has been with the company for about 12 years, the same length of time the Whites Creek plant has been in operation. Pendleton described him as an experienced worker with about 30 years in the business. ''Unfortunately, we have had an accident with an experienced employee,'' Pendleton said. ''There are hazards in any kind of manufacturing job.'' Pendleton declined to give any detailed information about the machinery where Alvis was working or the cause of the accident. Brooks said there was a conveyor belt that led to a crushing device. Pendleton said the plant is operated by four employees. Alvis' co-workers declined to comment.
Bakery worker killed in accident
BRIDGEPORT - A 45-year-old bakery worker died of severe injuries to the head and neck when he became caught in a baking machine, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Saturday. Jose Manuel Guerra of Bridgeport died Friday night when he became tangled in a conveyor-driven roll-producing machine at the State Street bakery, police said. The incident occurred after the bakery sales room closed for the evening. The $8.4 million, 45,000-square-foot bakery opened two years ago and is believed to be among the largest bakeries in the state. It features computer-controlled stainless steel machines from Italy that produce 8,000 rolls an hour and employs several dozen workers. It supplies rolls and bread for school systems and supermarket chains in southern Connecticut. Officials of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration joined Bridgeport police in the investigation late Friday night. An autopsy by the chief medical examiner Saturday ruled the cause of death was blunt trauma injuries to the head and neck.
