A worker at an United States aluminum processing plant died in an accident early Thursday, said local police.
At around midnight, working on a Bobcat (e.g., skid steer, compact excavator) and clearing some scrap metal from the floor of the plant, according to the local police chief.
For some reason, the worker went on top of a shredder, lost his footing and fell into the shredder, killing him almost instantly.
Police said they don't think the worker turned off the shredder before working to unclog it, which isn't proper protocol.
"He thought it was jammed and he got off the Bobcat and stepped up onto the hopper, what they call the shredder, and either fell in or got pulled in trying to dislodge something," police chief said. "The victim had only worked at the plant for two months but had been extensively trained."
This is a video of an aluminium shredder
not the particular shredder in this accident.
not the particular shredder in this accident.
"He had been looking for a job and finally got him one. He was so proud of that," said the deceased's friend.
The plant's attorney would not go on camera, but told a local television station , "we don't believe we have any problem with safety practices at the plant."
This is the first death the business has had in 28 years of being in operation. OSHA will investigate the incident. Nobody witnessed what happened, but workers saw the aftermath.
"Some other employees, there were 12 on duty, saw what they thought was strange on the conveyer belts and immediately shut it down," police chief said.
Investigators do not suspect foul play, and there are no signs that this was intentional.
Early indications are that this was simply a tragic accident.
This is another story illustrating the importance of following lockout tagout procedures are.
Update: OSHA fined this company $8000 USD for a series of violations.
This is another story illustrating the importance of following lockout tagout procedures are.
The Occupational & Health Safety Administration (OSHA) lock out tag out information can be found here.
Update: OSHA fined this company $8000 USD for a series of violations.
Please Comment.
6 comments:
Sad story. I agree with you. Since I implemented LOTO for first time, I have considered that a must. I have included LOTO as SOP in every single plant I have managed. An of course it is a must to press hard in order to involve all the staff.
It is rally sad to hear about this kind of accident specially where we can avoid it. LOTA is a real problem on sites and the origin of accidents.
This is tragic and also indicates the need for new employee training. Most of the fatalities I have seen involve an employee with good intentions (keep the machine running) however nothing in the plant is worth a human life.
Thanks for posting...read it...it's sad that we all know this could have been prevented...
How is it that shredder has an open top? Shouldn't there be some type of feed belt feeding material into the hopper? Could proper guarding have prevented this accident?
I have worked around shredders for 30 years
Cannot stress the importance of safety around shredders and recyling plants in generel...
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