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Forklift crushes operator working underneath on starter
Get PDFOn June 4, 2004, a 47-year-old co-owner of a recycling business was run over and killed by a Gradall telescopic boom lift (rough-terrain forklift) while he was working underneath it. He had been operating the Gradall, and had shut it down when he momentarily exited the vehicle. When he returned to the machine, he found it would not restart. The Gradall had a safety interlock that prevented starting from the ignition switch while in gear. The contractor was apparently unaware of this safety feature. He checked the batteries, and then crawled underneath the cab area and reached up into the engine compartment with a screwdriver. The screwdriver made contact between the two terminals on the starter, effectively jump-starting the engine and bypassing the safety mechanism that prevented ignition while in gear. The Gradall started and moved forward. The parking brake was not set. The back left tire rolled over the contractor. Recommendations: 1. Powered industrial forklifts should only be operated by knowledgeable and experienced individuals certified by the employer, with proficiency demonstrated through operator training. 2. Before exiting any powered industrial truck, even briefly, completely shut down power, place controls in neutral and apply parking brake. 3. Do not start equipment by overriding safety features.Cooperative Agreemen
Career Fire Fighter Dies After Ejection From His Fire Engine When It was Struck By a Vehicle
Get PDFOn February 7, 2007, a 47-year-old male career fire fighter died after he was ejected from his fire engine when it was struck by a sport utility vehicle (SUV). The decedent was driving the fire engine with its lights and sirens activated enroute to a structure fire. The fire station lieutenant was seated in the front passenger seat. Two additional fire fighters were seated in the back seats behind the fire engine's front compartment. As the fire engine proceeded through an intersection, a speeding SUV struck the passenger side of the fire engine near the windshield. The decedent was ejected along with the lieutenant through the passenger front windshield. The lieutenant landed in the street in front of the SUV approximately ten yards away from the fire engine. After the decedent was ejected, he rolled underneath the fire engine. The fire engine came to rest on top of the decedent's chest. The decedent expired as the fire engine was removed from his chest. Although the other two fire fighters were not ejected, they sustained serious injuries. These two fire fighters and the lieutenant were taken by ambulance to a local hospital. The driver of the SUV was pronounced dead at the scene. Recommendations: 1. The use of seat belts should be mandatory when driving or riding in a fire engine or any emergency vehicle that is in motion. MIOSHA General Industry Safety Standard Part 74, Fire Fighting requires seat belt use when the apparatus is in motion. 2. Fire engines and other fire apparatus should be equipped with automatic seat belt systems or warning signals that require seat belt use for operation of the vehicles. 3. In accordance with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1451, Standard for a Fire Service Vehicle Operations Training Program, driver training should be provided as often as necessary, but not less than twice a year. 4. In accordance with the NFPA 1451, formally written Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) should be developed and implemented for safe driving, defensive driving techniques, and riding within and operating fire department vehicles during an emergency and non-emergency response. 5. The SOP should have a procedure to evaluate the effectiveness of this training every three years in accordance with NFPA 1451. 6. All fire apparatus driver/operators shall meet the requirements as outlined in NFPA 1002, Standard for Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator Professional Qualifications. 7. In accordance with the NFPA 1451, all fire department vehicle drivers/operators should possess a valid vehicle operator's licensed as required by the State. 8. The SOPs should be communicated, applied and enforced by all fire fighters to ensure "Everyone Goes Home" as promoted by the National Fallen Fire Fighter Foundation. 9. All fire fighters should be encouraged to sign the "National Fire Service Seat Belt Pledge" to re-enforce the importance of wearing seat belts.Cooperative Agreemen
Salesman Dies from Vehicle Rollover in Wyoming
Get PDFA 45 year old male road salesperson died at the scene from injuries received when the car he was driving left an Interstate roadway at an estimated speed of 95 miles per hour and overturned. The driver, who was not wearing seatbelts, was ejected from the vehicle. The vehicle rolled 2 1/2 times, coming to rest on its top. Employers may be able to minimize the potential for occurrence of this type of incident through the following precautions: 1. Provide road salespersons with driver training similar to, or more intensive than, the National Safety Council Defensive Driving Course. 2. Periodically review driving habits with salespersons and counsel employees about safe driving as a company policy. 3. Establish, post, and enforce policy opposing moving traffic violations (especially speed and alcohol violations) and advocating use of occupant restraints.Publication Date provided by FACE program; not printed on the report.Cooperative Agreemen
A computer support technician at a communications company in Texas died after being crushed in a stationary trash compactor.
Get PDFA 52-year-old, male computer support technician (the victim), at a communications company died after being crushed in a stationary trash compactor. The victim had gone to the company loading dock to look for a computer shipping box which had been mistakenly thrown into the trash compactor. He turned on the compactor using the key located in the switch. The compactor started its normal cycle and the ram inside the charging chamber raised to the up position. While the ram was at the top of its stroke, he leaned over the compactor's loading sill to look inside the machine. The ram moved down to complete its cycle, struck him on the back and crushed him against the loading sill. A co-worker who was nearby heard the victim groan, went to the compactor and found him. With the assistance of another co-worker, the victim was lifted out of the compactor while another co-worker called 911. The incident occurred at 10:00 a.m. EMS personnel arrived within minutes and found the victim was dead from his injuries. The TX FACE Investigator concluded that to reduce the likelihood of similar occurrences, employers should: 1. Ensure that workers are protected from the unexpected movement of machine parts by developing lockout/tagout procedures as required by OSHA regulation 29 CFR 1910.147 - Control of Hazardous Energy (lockout/tagout). 2. Establish an operating policy for trash compactors that includes training in safe operating procedures, identification of authorized operators, and measures to prevent unauthorized operation. Additionally, employers and owners of trash compactors should: 3. Ensure that the machines are properly equipped, inspected regularly, and maintained according to ANSI Z245.2 - Stationary Compactors Safety Requirements.Cooperative Agreemen
Carbon Monoxide Kills 65 year-old Rancher in Colorado.
Get PDFA 65 year-old rancher died inside a converted semi-truck trailer after being exposed to carbon monoxide from the exhaust of a portable gasoline engine-powered generator. The exhaust from the generator was vented to the outside with flexible ductwork placed through a small hole cut into the side of the trailer. On the night of the incident, the victim is thought to have pulled the generator away from the wall to refuel it, subsequently pulling the end of the exhaust tubing through the wall and into the trailer. The victim is thought to have pushed the generator back against the wall without noticing the displaced ductwork, started the generator and gone to bed to watch television. The victim was found by his wife the next morning when he failed to return home. The Colorado Department of Health investigator concluded that, in order to prevent future similar occurrences, employers should: 1. Locate all gasoline-powered engines outside of any space utilized for work or living quarters; 2. Ensure that all users of gasoline powered engines are properly trained in their use and the hazards of carbon monoxide in a confined space; 3. Survey the work-site to identify hazards; 4. Inform all employees of possible hazards.Publication Date provided by FACE program; not printed on the report.Cooperative Agreemen
University Employee is Fatally Injured in 120-foot Fall from Roof
Get PDFA 60-year-old physical plant director for a state university fell 120 feet to his death. The victim was using the roof of the campus library as an observation point to inspect campus facilities for wind damage. High wind conditions with gusts to 30 miles per hour existed at the time of the incident. Campus employees routinely used the library roof as an observation point because it was the highest structure on campus and allowed an unobstructed view of the entire campus. The victim was apparently walking around the perimeter of the roof when he tripped on a utility vent pipe located near the low parapet of the roof. The Colorado Department of Health (CDH) investigator concluded that, in order to prevent future similar occurrences, employers should: 1. Construct permanent railings around the perimeter of the roof; 2. Develop, implement, and enforce a comprehensive safety program that includes, but is not limited to, training in fall hazard recognition.Publication Date provided by FACE program; not printed on the report.Cooperative Agreemen
A 79 year-old Colorado Farmer Dies After Falling Five Feet from a Haystack.
Get PDFA 79 year-old farmer died from injuries sustained in a five-foot fall while attempting to move bales of hay. The victim had climbed a ladder next to a twelve-foot-high stack of hay bales. The victim threw one bale to the ground, and then is thought to have stepped onto a bale that was protruding from the stack at the five-foot level. The victim fell from this bale to the ground. The victim showed no signs of life when found by his son. The Colorado Department of Health investigator concluded that, in order to prevent future similar occurrences, employers should: 1. Survey the work-site to identify hazards; 2. Inform all employees of the possible hazards; 3. Consider and address worker safety in the planning phase of projects.Publication Date provided by FACE program; not printed on the report.Cooperative Agreemen
A Plumber Dies After the Collapse of a Trench Wall
Get PDFIn May 2007, a 46 year old self-employed plumbing contractor (the victim) died when the unprotected trench he was working in collapsed. The victim was an independent plumber subcontracted to install a sewer line connection to the sewer main, part of a general contractor project to install a new sanitary sewer for an existing single family residence. At approximately 12:30 PM on the day of the incident, the workers on site observed the victim walking back toward the residence for parts as they initiated their lunch break. When the victim did not come for his lunch or answer his cell phone, the general contractor and workers starting searching for the victim. The excavation contractor observed that a portion of the trench had collapsed where the victim was installing a sewer tap. The victim was found trapped in the trench under a large slab of asphalt, rock and soil. Three workers immediately climbed down the side of the trench to try to assist the victim. One of the workers called 911 on his cell phone. Police and emergency medical services (EMS) arrived on site within minutes. The EMS members entered the unprotected trench but could not revive the victim. The county trench rescue team recovered the victim's body at approximately seven feet below grade and lifted him from the ditch four hours after the incident. He was pronounced dead at the site. More than 50 rescue workers were involved in the recovery. New York State Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (NY FACE) investigators concluded that, to help prevent similar occurrences, employers and independent contractors should: 1. Require that all employees, subcontractors, and site workers working in trenches five feet or more in depth are protected from cave-ins by an adequate protection system. 2. Require that a competent person conducts daily inspections of the excavations, adjacent areas, and protective systems and takes appropriate measures necessary to protect workers. 3. Require that all employees and subcontractors have been properly trained in the recognition of the hazards associated with excavation and trenching. In addition, the general contractor (GC) should be responsible for the collection and review of training records and require that all workers employed on the site have received the requisite training to meet all applicable standards and regulations for the scope of work being performed. 4. Require that on a multi-employer work site, the GC should be responsible for the coordination of all high hazard work activities such as excavation and trenching. 5. Require that all employees are protected from exposure to electrical hazards in a trench. Additionally, 1. Employers of law enforcement and EMS personnel should develop trench rescue procedures and should require that their employees are trained to understand that they are not to enter an unprotected trench during an emergency rescue operation. 2. Local governing bodies and codes enforcement officers should receive additional training to upgrade their knowledge and awareness of high hazard work, including excavation and trenching. This skills upgrade should be provided to both new and existing codes enforcement officers. 3. Local governing bodies and codes enforcement officers should consider requiring building permit applicants to certify that they will follow written excavation and trenching plans in accordance with applicable standards and regulations, for any projects involving excavation and trenching work, before the building permits can be approved.Cooperative Agreemen
Fertilizer Company Worker Crushed to Death by Falling Concrete Ecology Block
Get PDFIn February 2012, a 56-year-old heavy equipment operator working for a fertilizer distribution company died when a concrete "ecology block" weighing approximately 4000 pounds fell from a retaining wall, crushing him. On the day of the incident, the victim and other employees had been unloading bulk fertilizer from rail cars and moving it into a large steel storage tank. The interior of the tank was partitioned into containment bays using stacked concrete ecology blocks to separate the different materials. Semi-truck trailers filled with bulk fertilizer were driven into the storage tank and backed into a containment bay, which was bordered on three sides by ecology block walls. Using a mobile conveyor belt system, or piler, connected to the rear of the trailer, fertilizer was unloaded into a pile on the floor. As the pile grew larger, an employee operating a front end loader would push the material to the back of the bay. In the early evening, the victim and one other employee were working to unload the last truck of the day. The victim was operating the front end loader, pushing fertilizer further into the bay after it dropped from the conveyor. At one point, the victim stopped the front end loader and went to investigate whether material was leaking through the rear wall of the bay. He climbed onto and walked along the ecology block wall to the back wall of the bay, which blocked a large opening in the tank. The second worker in the tank shut off the piler and heard several loud booms. He yelled for the victim, but there was no answer. He ran up the pile and saw that the blocks had collapsed, so he ran outside and around the storage tank and found the victim pinned by a fallen block against the wall of the tank. He yelled to another employee to call 911. Investigators suspect that the victim saw that material was leaking between the blocks of the wall and climbed down a ladder on the back of the tank to take a closer look. The victim was apparently trying to brace the unstable block wall with some long pieces of lumber when it collapsed. The top block of the wall fell directly onto the victim's head and neck, crushing him against the wall of the storage tank. First responders arrived within five minutes, but the victim was declared dead at the scene. RECOMMENDATIONS - To prevent similar incidents, Washington State Fatality and Control Evaluation (FACE) recommends that employers should: 1. Plan bulk material storage facilities for safety and stability by choosing structures designed specifically for bulk material containment, whether they are permanent or modular. 2. Consult a registered professional engineer prior to constructing bulk material containment walls or other structures using ecology blocks. 3. Provide employees with training on the hazards of working around ecology block walls, and safe practices, including to: a. Inspect ecology block wall storage areas before and after loading in material. b. Immediately stop work around ecology block walls showing signs of material leakage, leaning, moving, or other damage. c. Never attempt to brace or stabilize a leaning ecology block wall on your own. d. Avoid walking on top of ecology block walls. e. Avoid contacting ecology block walls with heavy or other equipment. f. Notify the proper person if structural integrity issues in an ecology block wall are found. 4. Regularly assess and audit the structural stability of ecology block walls. If integrity appears compromised, work around the wall must cease and the wall must be repaired or rebuilt. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: 1. Lack of proper design, construction, and maintenance of material storage areas. 2. Lack of training regarding the dangers of working around bulk material and ecology blocks. 3. Possible destabilization of block wall due to granular material leaking between the blocks. 4. Possible destabilization of block wall through contact with the front end loader bucket.Cooperative Agreemen
CA: Congressional District 09, Heart Disease and Federally Qualified Health Centers Map [118th Congress]
No full textHeart disease death rates can differ considerably within a congressional district. These maps highlight the disparities in county-level heart disease death rates within your congressional district. This map represents data for California Congressional District 09.Title derived; supplied by publishing office.Publication Date supplied by publishing office