occupational fatalities
kkrisberg | August 25, 2015Reporter Anna Merlan at Jezebel chronicles the stories of women truck drivers who experienced severe sexual harassment and rape after enrolling in a training program. Her story begins with Tracy (who asked Merlan not to use her last name), who attended a driving school that contracts with Cedar Rapids Steel Transport Van Expedited (CRST), which is among the largest trucking companies in the country. During her training, Tracy was matched with a seasoned trucker who was supposed to help her safely accrue the training hours she needed before she could drive a truck on her own. Merlan reports:…
kkrisberg | August 20, 2015More than 1,000 U.S. workers have died due to job-related events in the first seven months of 2015, according to new data from the U.S. Worker Fatality Database. Researchers estimate that total fatalities will likely reach 4,500 by the end of the year, which would mean that the nation’s occupational death rate experienced little, if no, improvement over previous years.
The database, which launched last year and represents the largest open-access data set of individual workplace fatalities ever collected in the U.S., also breaks down 2015 data by state. So far, Texas leads the pack, followed…
cmonforton | August 19, 2015Davide Nascimento, 28, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Friday, July 31, 2015 while working at a construction site in Longmeadow, MA. WFSB.com reports:
The incident happened at a sewer project on Hazardville Road around 7:45 a.m.
Nascimento “…was trapped inside a trench that began rapidly filling with water.”
“The man was employed by Ludlow-based construction company A. Martins and Sons. They were contracted by the town for the project. “
Masslive.com notes:
The trench was part of an ongoing sewer-line replacement project in Longmeadow.
The incident occurred at the corner of Tedford Drive…
kkrisberg | August 18, 2015The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is no stranger to budget cuts — the agency is already so underfunded that it would take its inspectors nearly a century, on average, to visit every U.S. workplace at least once. In some states, it would take two centuries. Unfortunately, appropriations bills now making their way through Congress don’t bode much better for OSHA.
Earlier this month, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) and Public Citizen, along with 74 fellow organizations that care about worker health and safety, sent a letter to…
cmonforton | August 7, 2015My husband and I (along with our 70 pound golden retriever) recently spent 26 hours in our car driving from Texas to Michigan. That’s lots of time to kibitz on all sorts of topics.
He heard me rant about four workers killed on the job last fall at DuPont’s LaPorte, TX plant because of gross safety violations. At the same time, the corporate giant earns millions selling its safety “expertise” to other companies. My husband heard me repeat my complaints about the small financial sanctions imposed on companies for violating fundamental safety regulations, even in cases of a worker's death. The…
cmonforton | August 4, 2015Ascencion Molina Medina, 44, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Thursday, July 30, 2015 while working at a construction site in Greenville, SC. Greenville On-line reports:
Medina “lost his footing” and fell about 30 feet, according to the county coroner. He died several hours later at the local hospital.
The construction project is a new mixed use development called Main + Stone which will house residential and retail properties. The Beach Company is the developer and the project broke ground in late 2014.
The general contractor of the Main + Stone development is Yeargin Potter Shackelford…
cmonforton | July 29, 2015Timothy Winding’s work-related death could have been prevented. That’s how I see the findings of federal OSHA in the agency’s citations against his employer KCI Inc and Ford Motor Company. The 50 year-old was working in December 2014 at the Ford Motor Company’s Kansas City assembly plant in Claycomo, MO, when he was killed on the job.
The initial press reports indicated that Winding was part of a crew of contractors who were working to retool the plant for a new line of Ford trucks. While working on a body marriage machine, a safety rod broke and Winding was crushed. I wrote about the…
cmonforton | July 23, 2015[Updated 7/24/15 below]
I heard very troubling remarks yesterday from a member of the Chemical Safety Board. Mr. Manny Ehrlich said that he has a “fundamental philosophical disagreement” with the staff about making recommendations for new safety regulations. Mr. Ehrlich accepted a job and was confirmed by the Senate to make recommendations to prevent catastrophic chemical incidents. Now he tells us that he is taking an entire category of fixes off the table?
The Chemical Safety Board is modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). I know I’d be concerned if I heard members…
cmonforton | July 16, 2015Jason Strycharz’s work-related death could have been prevented. That’s how I see the findings of federal OSHA in the agency's citations against his employer Kloeckner Metals. The 40 year-old was working in January 2015 at the company’s warehouse in Middletown, CT. The initial press reports indicated that Strycharz was struck by a piece of steel swinging from a crane. I wrote about the incident shortly after it was reported by local press.
OSHA inspectors conducted an inspection at the facility following Jason Strycharz’s death. The agency recently issued a citation to the firm. The agency…
cmonforton | July 9, 2015Gerald Lyle Thompson, 51, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Tuesday, June 30, 2015 while working in Lakeville, Minnesota for DSM Excavating.
KSTP reports:
His employer, DSM Excavating was hired by Ryland Homes for the excavation project. The trench in which Thompson was working caved in on him.
The Star-Tribune reports:
Thompson and his brother were “installing drain tile on the perimeter of a lot…when the trench collapsed ...”
The trench was 6 to 8 feet deep and Thompson was trapped at the bottom of it when the soil collapsed onto him.
The Dakota County Special Operations team recovered…
kkrisberg | July 7, 2015Recycling our garbage is good for the planet, but a new report finds that the workers who process our recyclable materials often face dangerous and unnecessary conditions that put their health and safety at serious risk.
Released in late June, “Sustainable and Safe Recycling: Protecting Workers Who Protect the Planet” chronicles the many hazards that recycling workers encounter on the job as well as ways the recycling industry and local officials can collaborate to improve and ensure worker safety. The report — a collaboration between the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, the…
cmonforton | July 3, 2015The work-related death of drill rig operator Ernesto Rodriguez, 41, did not result in any OSHA citations against his employer Complete Energy Services dba Mercer Well Services. I wrote about Rodriguez’s death on-the-job shortly after it was reported by local press.
The incident occurred on September 10, 2014 at an XTO Energy (ExxonMobil) well near Mannsville, OK. OSHA commenced its investigation on September 11 and closed the case on April 9, 2015. This is the only information on OSHA’s website about the fatality involving Ernesto Rodriguez. To find out more, I sent a FOIA request to the…
kkrisberg | June 30, 2015This week, the Center for Public Integrity launched a new investigative series into the failure of regulators to protect workers for toxic exposures. The series begins with the story of a bricklayer who developed acute silicosis after exposure to silica, a deadly substance that threatens more than 2 million workers and that OSHA has been struggling to regulate for 40 years. The bricklayer, Chris Johnson, is just 40 years old and can expect to survive less than five years. Reporters Jim Morris, Jamie Smith Hopkins and Maryam Jameel write:
An 18-month investigation by the Center for Public…
cmonforton | June 15, 2015Richard Johnson’s work-related death could have been prevented. That’s how I see the findings of the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH) in the agency’s citations against his employer, Southwest Fabrication. The 31 year-old was working in January 2015 at the company’s facility in Phoenix, Arizona. The initial press reports indicated that his clothes got entangled in a metal fabrication machine. I wrote about the incident shortly after it was reported by local press.
Inspectors with ADOSH conducted an inspection at the facility following the fatal incident. The agency…
cmonforton | June 11, 2015John Dunnivant’s work-related death could have been prevented. That’s how I see the findings of federal OSHA in the agency’s citations against his employer, Kia Motors. The 57-year old was working in October 2014 at the company’s plant in West Point, Georgia. The initial press reports indicated that Dunnivant was crushed by a stamping machine in the steel-press section of the facility. I wrote about the incident shortly after it was reported by local press.
Inspectors with federal OSHA conducted an inspection at the facility following the fatal incident. The agency recently issued citations…
cmonforton | May 23, 2015Milton “Tito” Rafael Barreto Hernandez work-related death could have been prevented. That’s how I see the findings of Federal OSHA in the agency’s citations against his employer, Scott Materials (Central Rock Corporation/ Southwinds Express Construction.) The 22-year-old was working in October 2014 at the company’s concrete crushing facility in Scott, Louisiana. The initial press reports indicated Hernandez and a supervisor were trying to remove debris that was jamming up a conveyor belt. The equipment was turned back on and Hernandez was pulled into the machine. I wrote about the incident…
cmonforton | May 22, 2015Last week OSHA announced citations and proposed a $99,000 penalty against DuPont for safety violations related to the November 2014 incident that killed four employees at its LaPorte, TX chemical plant. Wade Baker, 60, Gibby Tisnado, 48, Robert Tisnado, 39, and Crystal Wise, 53 were asphyxiated by methyl mercaptan because of gross failures in DuPont’s systems to manage highly hazardous chemicals. OSHA’s proposed penalty stems from one repeat, nine serious, and one other-than-serious violation.
What baffles me is why OSHA didn’t propose the $70,000 maximum for the repeat violation. OSHA gave…
kkrisberg | May 19, 2015An injured worker who was featured in the ProPublica/NPR investigation on the dismantling of the workers’ compensation system recently testified before lawmakers in Illinois, cautioning them against making the same drastic workers’ comp cuts as his home state of Oklahoma. Michael Grabell, who co-authored the original investigation, writes that John Coffell, who lost his home after hurting his back at an Oklahoma tire plant, was part of an eight-hour hearing on workers’ comp before the entire Illinois state assembly. Grabell writes in ProPublica:
Coffell told the legislators that after…
cmonforton | May 14, 2015Selvin Antulio Lopez-Castillo, 43, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Monday, May 4, 2015 while working at a residential construction site in Franklin Township, NJ. ABCNews reports:
The incident occurred around 4 pm at a site where a home was under construction.
Five other workers were nearby when the incident occurred.
NBCNY reports:
“The worker was about 8 feet down when the walls of the hole gave way. The other workers attempted to get him out but were unsuccessful.”
“Firefighters from Community, East Franklin, Somerset Fire and Rescue and New Brunswick Fire responded to the scene. They…
cmonforton | May 6, 2015I’ve heard dozens and dozens of examples of workers getting seriously injured on-the-job. Many times the tale ends with a remark like this:
“and the company never told OSHA.”
There was the guy on a moving crew in Milwaukee whose foot was crushed in a faulty freight elevator. A day laborer in Cincinnati who lost part of his finger in a chain saw. A painter in Houston who suffered a fractured pelvis and leg when his scaffold collapsed.
In every case, whether the worker himself or a co-worker told the story, they thought it especially important to tell me this: neither the boss nor anybody…