LOTO Accidents 4

LOTO Accidents #4

This page was last updated on 05/06/2010

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.