worker fatality

[Update below] What would it take to get police departments to refrain from calling work-related fatalities “just an accident”? I read it all the time. A 60 year-old mechanic falls 50 feet through an unguarded floor opening, and it’s an “accidental death.” Or a 30 year-old production clerk gets pulled into a machine, and it’s a “tragic accident.” The latest example I read involved a 23 year-old man, Erik Deighton, who was crushed a few weeks ago at Colonial Plastics. The small suburban Detroit manufacturing plant fabricates specialty parts for automakers. Shelby Township Police Captain…
This week will mark the next big step in efforts to institute a federal regulation to protect workers who are exposed to respirable crystalline silica. Tuesday, March 18 will be the first of 14 days of testimony and debate about a proposed silica rule which was released in September 2013 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA). The “deadly dust” is associated with malignant and non-malignant respiratory diseases and other adverse health conditions. The hazard has been recognized for centuries, but the U.S. does not have a comprehensive rule on the books to protect the…
The Hartford Courant’s Dave Altimari and Matthew Kauffman reported recently on what has transpired since the February 2010 explosion at the Kleen Energy plant in Middletown, CT. Six workers were killed in the incident at the new, nearly-completed electric power plant. The Courant story’s headline says a lot: “4 Years After Deadly Plant Explosion: No Ban On Gas Blows, Fines Slashed.” It’s a must-read piece. The technical cause of the accident was Keystone Construction’s decision to use highly-pressurized natural gas to clean fine construction debris from the pipe structures. The term used to…
Last weekend, construction worker Jose Perez stood up and spoke about life as a construction worker in one of then nation’s most prosperous cities. In front of him were hundreds of supporters who had gathered in downtown Austin, Texas, to call on a local developer to treat its workers better. Looming behind him was the new Gables Park Tower, an unfinished luxury apartment complex where construction workers have reported dangerous working conditions and frequent wage violations. Austin’s Workers Defense Project, a worker-led nonprofit that helps low-income workers fight for better working…
There’s a good reason---a lifesaving reason---that machine guards and light curtains are installed on equipment. To prevent workers from being maimed or killed in them. But those safeguards weren't in place last August at the Wire Mesh Sales manufacturing plant in Jacksonville, Florida. The consequence was a 32 year old worker lost his life. The man was retrieving a metal bar that had fallen inside a piece of machinery. OSHA reports, “he was struck and killed by a part that feeds the wire into the machine's welding area.” How did it happen? “The light curtain that would have automatically…
[June 25, 2014: Updated below] Seven workers were fatally injured in April 2010 from an explosion and fire at a Tesoro petroleum refinery in Washington State. They were: Daniel J. Aldridge, 50; Matthew C. Bowen, 31; Darrin J. Hoines, 43; Matt Gumbel, 34; Lew Charles Janz, 41; Kathryn Powell, 29; and Donna Van Dreumel, 36. You won’t find their names listed, however, in the official investigation report prepared by the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB). Earlier this week, TPH contributor Lizzie Grossman reported on the CSB’s recent public meeting at which it released a draft of its investigation…
MSHA recently issued two fatality investigation reports for incidents at quarries involving haulage trucks. Both incidents, one in Missouri and the other in Pennsylvania, occurred in September 2013. The reports caught my attention in particular because both include this statement: “Additionally, he was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the haul truck which contributed to the severity of his injuries.” What do we know, or not know, about why some workers fail to wear their seatbelts? First, here are a few details about the fatalities: One involved a 1980 Caterpillar 773B haul truck…
[Updated (April 9, 2015) below] [Updated (July 21, 2014) below] That’s a common phrase offered by government officials after workers are killed on-the-job. It’s the sentiment shared yesterday by Labor Secretary Tom Perez in response to the January 20 incident that claimed the lives of Keith Everett, 53 and David Ball, 47. The worksite, International Nutrition, manufactures additives for livestock and poultry feed. Perez’s exact remark was: “There are many questions yet to be answered about what caused this disaster, but I am confident that the answers provided by federal, state and local…
In 2012, a Frontline and Pro Publica investigation of the cell (or wireless) tower industry found that between 2003 and 2010 the average fatality rate for the US tower industry was more than 10 times greater than that of the construction industry. A January 6, 2014 story by KUOW reporter John Ryan about the death in January 2013 of tower climber Mike Rongey in Mount Vernon, Washington is a reminder that the industry remains extremely dangerous. It is also a reminder that the employers of the workers killed in these incidents may only be fined minimally and that the wireless service providers…
[Updates below] Angel Garcia, 28 is being remembered as a son who dearly loved his family, and basketball. He died last month while working on a $450 million renovation project at Texas A&M University’s football stadium. Garcia, a construction worker who was employed by Lindamood Demolition, fell four stories and died shortly thereafter. OSHA is conducting a post-fatality inspection at the scene and of Lindamood’s operations.  Just last year, the firm was subject to an inspection by OSHA at a demolition site in Wichita Falls, TX.  The company received a citation and $4,900 penalty for a…
The Obama Administration's USDA continues to insist that their proposed rule to "modernize" poultry slaughter inspections will improve food safety. Just last week, Secretary Vilsack's office said it is sticking with their plan, saying: "comprehensive effort to modernize poultry slaughter inspection in ways that will reduce the risk for American families." For the last 18 months, however, the USDA Secretary has heard loud and clear that his agency's proposal is certain to do much more harm than good. Advocates for and experts on food safety, workers safety, consumers, animal rights, and even…
Roger R. King, 62, in West Virginia. Robert Smith, 47, in Illinois. Mark Christopher Stassinos, 44, in Wyoming.  Larry Schwartz, 59, in Indiana. Four coal miners, working in four different States, employed by four different mining companies, all fatally injured on the job during the first eleven days of the government shutdown.  King was employed at CONSOL's McElroy mine, Smith at Alliance Resources' Pattiki mine, Stassinos at PacifiCorp's Bridger mine, and Schwartz at Five Star Mining's Prosperity Mine. I didn’t learn of these deaths from anything posted on the Mine Safety and Health…
Steven O’Dell, 27, went to work on November 30, 2012 for his “hoot owl” shift at Alpha Natural Resources’ Pocahontas Coal Mine.  He never came home.  O’Dell was fatally crushed between two pieces of mobile mining equipment.   Three weeks after his death, his wife Caitlin gave birth to their son Andrew. The young widow wants to make sure that another miner’s family doesn’t have to suffer the pain and grief that she’s endured.   As reported by The Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward, Jr. Caitlin O’Dell spoke last week before the West Virginia Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety, urging them to…
It's Day #2 of the Tea Party's shutdown of the federal government.   Shuttered entrances to national parks and museums are immediate and visible signs of this idiocy.  The shutdown's effect on key federal public health programs are probably less obvious, but could have substantially more adverse impact on the U.S. population.  Superbug's Maryn McKenna wrote yesterday on just a few ways that interruptions at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and USDA, could affect your's (and the world's) health.  With just a few examples, McKenna captures the…
A fourth official formerly associated with Massey Energy was sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison for conspiring to thwart federal mine safety laws.  David C. Hughart, 54, appeared this week before U.S. District Judge Irene Baker for his sentencing hearing.  Hughart plead guilty in February 2013, following charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). U.S. attorney Booth Goodwin’s staff have been investigating former Massey Energy personnel (the firm was purchased by Alpha Natural Resources in 2011) as part of DOJ's criminal investigation related to the April 2010 Upper Big  Branch (…
This week, Liz and I have been highlighting parts of our second annual review of U.S. occupational health and safety.   The first two sections of the report summarize key studies in the peer-reviewed literature, and an assessment of activities at the federal level.  In section three of the report we present high points---and a few low points---from state and local governments on workers’ rights and safety protections.  These include: New laws in Portland, Oregon and New York City requiring many employers to offer paid sick leave to their employees.   With 22 percent of the U.S. workforce in…
As Liz Borkowski noted yesterday, we are following up on a tradition that we started last year to mark Labor Day.  We released our second annual review of U.S. occupational health and safety for Labor Day 2013. Liz explained in her post our objectives in preparing the report.  She also highlighted its first section which profiles some of the best research from the year published in both peer-reviewed journals and by non-profit organizations.  Here’s a peek at section two of the report on activities at the federal level: Sequestration and other budget cuts have affected our worker protection…
For older workers, the most dangerous occupational move may be getting behind the wheel. Last Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data showing that among highway transportation incidents, which are the leading cause of occupational death in the country, the highest fatality rates occur among workers ages 65 years old and older. In fact, workers in that age group experienced a fatality rate three times higher than workers ages 18 to 54. The unfortunate trend was seen across industries and occupations and among most demographic groups, according to data published in…
Here we go again.  Worker killed on-the-job.  The employer decides---after the fact----it would be smart to install a piece of safety equipment that likely would have prevented the death.  That's what happened after coal miner John Houston "Hollywood" Myles, 44, was killed on-the-job. Myles worked at the Metinvest's Affinity Mine in Raleigh County, WV.  The veteran of Operation Desert Storm (1991) had worked as a coal miner for a total of four years, one of which at the Affinity mine.  On February 19, 2013, Myles was shoveling loose coal and material from the mine floor.  In an adjacent entry…
Fair working standards for construction workers and financial profit for developers aren't incompatible, according to a new report from Texas' Workers Defense Project. In fact, consumers are actually willing to pay more to live in places built on principles of safety, economic justice and dignity. Released this week in collaboration with the University of Texas' Center for Sustainable Development, "Green Jobs for Downtown Austin: Exploring the Consumer Market for Sustainable Buildings" studied consumer attitudes toward sustainable construction jobs and explored the market for certification…