"was struck by a pry bar....."

Common or repeated maintenance tasks should never be under estimated. Here is recent incident.

An aluminium company has released additional details on an accident last week that killed an employee at the plant in the Southeast USA.

As previously reported, the injured worker died one morning at a hospital 70 kilometers away.

The aluminum company president issued a statement to the local news media saying, “We are deeply saddened by the passing of (the worker) and extend our condolences to his family and friends. (The worker) worked as a general technician at (aluminium company) for 24 years and was known as a leader, a mentor and a friend to all who worked with him.”

Regarding the accident he says, “On the evening of Wednesday, August 29, (the worker) was assisting with a maintenance task on a machine and was struck by a pry bar. He was transported to a hospital 70 kilometers away where he passed away.”

The president says (the aluminium company) is “conducting a comprehensive investigation to fully understand the root cause of this tragic event in partnership with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.”

We offer our sincere condolences and prayers to the deceased worker’s family, friends, and coworkers. If given the opportunity to meet with the family, first we would ask if we could prayer together. Eventually, I would explain what family members have done in similar circumstances. Which is concentrate on how their loved one lived not how they died.

The press release from the aluminium company provides more information than news media article. We learned that the worker was assisting with a maintenance task when he was struck with a pry bar. We assume due to the workers long employment at this plant that he may have done this task previously. That is an assumption. We also assume that the prybar was long and heavy in length. While being used the prybar somehow hit the worker and injured him. Eventually, he succumbed to his injuries.

The aluminium company will investigate this task and review if any hazard identification was performed prior to the task occurring. Unfortunately, with many older plants tasks were originally done without considering the potential hazards. If a task resulted in no injuries many companies deemed the task/procedure safe. That’s a false safety belief that is exposed when an incident occurs. It is only after an investigation that it is found that the previously task/procedure that was thought to be safe was actually not.

Regardless, please keep this deceased worker and every deceased worker in your prayers. Because we do, every day.

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