Workers complained to OSHA that needles used to treat cancer patients were not safety-engineered and when workers removed the needles, they risked needlestick injuries. OSHA found that the workers were potentially exposed to bloodborne pathogens from needlesticks because safer needle systems, such as
automatically sheathing needles, were not used.

OSHA also found that workers had told the medical provider that a safer needle system was needed but continued to use a system not engineered to reduce
the risk of injury. As a result, OSHA issued a willful citation for failing to use the safest technology available to them.

The company was also hit with a serious citation for failing to update an exposure-control plan.

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Ricardo Flores, 41 of Pleasant Grove, UT worked for a bronzing factory. He was performing welding work when a nearby piece of pressurized equipment exploded. The force blew a large autoclave door off its hinges, hitting Flores in the head. He was rushed to the hospital but not in time. Three co-workers who came to his aid where also treated at the hospital for steam inhalation and psychological trauma.

Authorities are still investigating what caused the deadly explosion; however, it is believed that the machine either malfunctioned or the door was not secured properly.

Co-workers described him as “a simple guy who loves his family.”

Source: www.heraldextra.com

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A forklift driver was able to remove Rainer from under the barrier, but the crushing injuries Rainer suffered were too extensive. He died at a local hospital about a half hour later.

OSHA is investigating the fatality. Investigators will no doubt ask for the certifications, operator training, and maintenance records of the front-end loader and other industrial trucks. The big question: How the loader crashed into a concrete barrier hard enough to knock it over.

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The story is familiar: An industrial blender – this one for meat-processing. Someone has to clean in it. The cleaner has to break down the machine. The machine unexpectedly starts up. A worker dies.

Hugo Avlos-Chanon, 41, Portland, OR, was killed in an industrial blender at Interstate Meat Distributors, Clackawas, OR.

Avlos-Chanon died of blunt-force and cutting wounds. A nearby worker had hit the emergency stop, but it was too late. In fact, rescuers didn’t remove the body until the next day, apparently being required to dismantle the machine first (presumably after de-energization).

While the investigation is ongoing, OSHA reportedly noted in the fall 2012 that the company was not locking out machines during the tear-down and cleaning process.

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The worker’s name wasn’t released. Apparently he was working on a food conveyor, and a pan became stuck. The worker climbed under the machine to free it, and became tangled in the moving conveyor. By the time the machine was shut off and he was freed, he suffered fatal injuries.

Take home: Temporary workers are at increased risk. Their training may not cover the level of detail needed to deal with an odd event, such as a pan getting stuck in a conveyor. And they may not fully understand when to call for help, and try to fix it themselves. The result, as in this case, can be tragic.

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William Irby Jr., 54, of Corvallis, MT, climbed fifteen feet up an oil tank to take measurements at an asphalt plant where he worked. While taking the measurements, he slipped off the tank and hit his head on the concrete pad that supported the tank. He died at the scene.

Source: www.missoulian.com

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Jacob Margalit, 44, owner of Golden West Tile and Stone, was preparing to unload 12 x8 foot granite slabs from a truck trailer. During the process, the weight of the material shifted and approximately five 1,000 pound slabs came loose. They fell against Margalit, pinning him against the side wall of the trailer.

Rescue teams used a crane to remove the 5,000 pounds of granite off Margalit. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Source: www.latimes.com

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Terry Weaver of Austin TX, and Thomas Fairbrother Jr. of Grand Saline, TX, were working on a crane at the University of Texas at Dallas. Strong gusts of winds up to 45 mph began to shake the crane. It toppled over killing both men at the scene.

Weaver had twenty five years of experience working on cranes. He leaves behind a wife, daughter and two grandchildren.

Source: www.dallasnews.com

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“I don’t see how Tim can be suing the company,” said Denise Marks, head of the company’s safety committee. “He said he knew the grate was a problem but never reported it.”

“He’s not the first person to stumble on the warehouse floor, but nobody has been hurt before,” said Tim’s supervisor Ron Little. “Did Tim mention why he never said anything?”

“As a matter of fact, yes,” said Denise. “Tim told me after the accident that he didn’t want to complain because he was the new guy. Normally, he tried to avoid the grate, but couldn’t see where he was walking that day.”

“That says a lot for our award-winning safety program, doesn’t it?” said Ron.

“We do have a good safety program,” Denise said. “Our safety committee would’ve addressed this issue – if Tim had reported the problem.”

Tim sued for more than workers comp. Did he win?

The Decision
No, Tim lost. An appeals court ruled that although there may have been signs of negligence on the company’s part, there was no evidence that Tim was sure to be injured by stepping on the defective grate.

Note that the court gave considerable weight to the absence of any prior tripping accidents involving the grate. Although other workers had stumbled in the area of the grate, no one was injured and the workers did not report the incidents.

Additionally, the court pointed out the company had a safety committee that met regularly, conducted safety inspections and had indeed received a safety award.

In this case, trouble began because a new employee was reluctant to speak up about a safety issue that led to an accident. Keep in mind that not everyone is comfortable reporting a problem, especially if they think it might reflect badly on them.

Create an open atmosphere
You can help encourage open attitudes toward safety in your workplace by putting employees at ease about discussing safety problems. Try initiating one-on-one conversations about safety with new employees and those who generally aren’t as vocal as other employees.

Also consider setting up an anonymous complaint system so employees can bring management’s attention to safety concerns with zero risk.

Stephen Meyer is a highly-rated, national speaker for Vistage - the world's leading chief executive organization. He speaks to and consults with hundreds of CEOs and business leaders every year on issues related to developing a talent development culture and making workplace training stick.

Cite: Richardson v. Welded Tubes Inc., No. 2007-A-0069, Ohio App.

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Vehicle drivers at a Canadian beer distributor developed a habit of using used liquor bottles to store windshield washer fluid. Two men who were tasked with washing one of the trucks apparently went into the truck’s cab, found the vodka bottle filled with bright-blue washer fluid, and began to drink it. The washer fluid contained about 50% alcohol – but deadly methanol, not drinking alcohol.

One worker was hospitalized, but another, who apparently drank more of the liquid, died. An Ontario court fined the company $175,000 Canadian.

While this case is in Canada, where there are separate rules, the fundamental safety lessons remain the same:

1. Label secondary containers. Include hazmat warnings. Methanol blinds and kills. That might have headed off this disaster.
2. Supervisors should watch out for habitual mislabeling of containers. Bad habits will require some effort to break. In this case, it wouldn’t be difficult to supply sufficient extra containers for the washer fluid.
3. Watch out for chemicals used for substance abuse in the workplace, too. People can be clever in abusing chemicals. The Warning signs may appear different in each case. Sometimes it’s a chemical that’s disappearing too quickly. (Ethanol, for example, sometimes disappears from university research labs.) Other times it’s the “wrong kind” of containers, either spotted in litter, the dumpster, or other areas they don’t belong (such as vodka bottles in vehicle cabs).

Source: HazMat Management magazine.

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