Workers protest death of coworker....who fell 20 meters...

There are a number of ways employers can protect workers from falls. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted incidents where falls could have been prevented through the use of conventional means such as guardrail systems, safety net systems and personal fall protection systems. Here is a recent story that emphasizes the need for fall protection education.

Workers at an aluminium company in Asia one day held demonstrations after one of their colleagues died following an accident in the one of the smelter houses of the aluminium company during the week July 27. 2014.

A large number of workers staged protests and placed the body of the deceased worker demanding immediate arrest of those responsible for the death. They also sought action from industrial safety officials of the state government who allegedly have failed to carry out their duty despite frequent accidents in the industry.

Heavy police force was deployed in the area to control the situation. The trade union leaders and police officials tried to pacify the agitated workers, following which they agreed to perform the last rites of the deceased.

The dead worker was a contract labourer of a vendor who died after falling from height of about 20 meters when he was engaged in the work of replacing the covering sheets of the cast of the smelter plant of the aluminium company.  He was taken to the departmental hospital at the nearby township around 11 AM but was declared dead soon after.

The aluminium company authorities have said that the family of the deceased shall be compensated as per the guidelines. The factory inspector and police are investigating the incident and the aluminium company officials are assisting the probe. Meanwhile the local police have registered a case for incident and are investigating the matter.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog offers our sincere condolences to the deceased worker’s family, friends and coworkers. For many in our industry our “2^nd family” is our coworkers. The APSB hopes that this plant will review this incident and make the necessary changes to unsure fall protection for their workers. 

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has some useful information on fall protection here.

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has a lot of information regarding fall from height hazards which can be viewed here.

EHS Today magazine has a great article by Ed Bickrest titled “Fall Protection: Failure is Not an Option”. It can be viewed here.

 

Lastly, OSHA has the following safety video about fall protection.

 

This poster can be found here.

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