"It's been an absolutely horrific morning....."

The aluminium extrusion industry has been suffering from a never-ending series of incidents involving fatalities. There appears to be no common thread connecting these incidents. There vary from hazards to locations, to age of worker(s), etc. Here is the story:

It was a difficult day for employees at an aluminium extrusion business after an employee was killed on the job.

A local emergency management services dispatcher said the accident happened one morning during the week of May 10, 2015 in the United States. The coroner has not yet released the employee's identity. The president and CEO of the aluminium company, said they were trying to contact his family.

"It's been an absolutely horrific morning," said the president of the aluminium company.

Local Police Department spokesman said the victim was trying to retrieve equipment from a machine in the painting area of the building when he suffered blunt force trauma to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

"It is some type of equipment that goes up and down," said Local Police Department spokesman. "Apparently he was struck in the head with the blunt force trauma that caused his death."

One former employee rushed over after he heard about what happened.

"I have some friends who work here and I don't want nothing like that happen, especially like somebody die," said a former employee. "It's very sad."

The company has been around in the 1940’s, they manufacture aluminum profiles. The aluminium company president said the man who died was a valued employee and a great addition to their team of 450. The aluminium company president said he had worked there for more than two years.

"In the 40 years that I've been here we've never had a loss of life in an industrial accident and there has never been one in the history of the company," said aluminium company president.

But according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, there were several violations at Cardinal Aluminum in 2012, many of them labeled "serious." The company was fined for over €30,000, but settled for just under €16,000.

"We want the workplace to be safe for everyone," said the aluminium company president. "We don't want anybody to be concerned or unsafe that the most important thing. We're just a family business and maybe that's the reason why it's so heartbreaking for us."

OSHA database indicates the company has had no other violations since 2012. OSHA is also investigating this case. The aluminium company is providing counselors for the employees.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog is saddened to hear about any incident. Upon hearing about an incident we pray. We pray for the deceased or injured worker’s family, friends, and coworkers. We acknowledge the shock, horror, sadness, anger that is felt by the deceased worker’s loved ones. We posted this story with the hope that by bringing awareness to this incident that it will prevent recurrences. That is our goal. We offer our sincere condolences on your loss.

We are acknowledge that the aluminium company in this incident will bring grief counselors on site to assist those in need. Recently the ASPB was told a story about a fatal incident. The story teller talked about the incident in detail. Why, because he was there. There were several near misses prior to the fatal incident. The worker with tears in eyes talked about the near misses. It was obvious that he blamed himself in some way for contributing to the incident that took his friend’s life. The APSB heard this story numerous times on our travels. I told that worker that I acknowledge his pain, the depth of his pain, but he was not at fault for the loss of his friend. The APSB recommends that grief counselors come back to the company in a few months, and then on a regular basis. 

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