The transportation of finished goods in our industry is completed
routinely with zero incidents. On occasion the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog will
post a recent news story highlighting the danger of transporting our finished
products. Here is the story:
A
girl died following one morning during the week of October 20, 2019 in a semi-truck
crash on the Poplar Street Bridge in St. Clair County in the state of Illinois.
Just
before 6 a.m., the crash occurred in the construction area in the eastbound
lanes on the bridge.
According
to the Illinois State Police Department, a piece of aluminum, which weighed
around 34,000 pounds (other reports list the weight as , became unstrapped from
a Peterbilt truck tractor's flatbed and hit the rear of the vehicle, causing it
to overturn on the driver's side. All eastbound lanes of the Poplar Street
Bridge were closed Monday following a semi-truck crash.
The
truck was being driven by a 44-year-old woman from Texas. Two teen boys, ages
15 and 17, and a 5-year-old girl, also from Texas, were inside the vehicle at
the time of the crash.
The
girl was reportedly riding in the sleeper berth of the vehicle and was ejected
from the truck during the crash. She was taken to the hospital and later died,
according to the Illinois State Police Department.
The
three other people inside the truck were taken to the hospital with minor
injuries.
The
Illinois State Police Department said there is no law that prohibits a minor or
anyone else from being in the sleeper berth while the vehicle is traveling.
Our sincere condolences go out to the little girl’s family and friends.
The news articles do not state what the relationship of the passengers to the
driver were. Nor do we care.
We care that every incident we post is read and taken into our
plants and used as a teaching tool. So, that this incident never happens again.
The naysayers may comment “Well how many kids are driving in a big rig?”. We
would respond “Who cares”. What matters is that the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog
has posted numerous incidents where improperly loaded trucks got into an accident
and the load either shift or went forward. We are sadden when we recall how
many fatalities we have posted resulting in improperly secured loads. Too many.
We pray that each and every reader remember that the victim was a 5 year old
girl. Is that unfair for us to plant that seed in your mind? Maybe. But, we
know that a death of a child can have far reaching impact on our lives. Please
give an example?
At some sporting events in North America the fans have the potential
of injury if the baseball or puck comes into the seating area. Countless injuries
had occurred in the National Hockey League of hockey pucks being hit
(accidentally) into the stands. It was only when Brittanie Nichole Cecil a
hockey fan who died from injuries suffered when a puck was deflected into the
stands and struck her in the left temple at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio,
on March 16, 2002. It was the first and currently only fan fatality in the
NHL's 100-year history. Soon thereafter the NHL implemented mandatory safety
netting above the glass behind and to the sides of both ends of the rink in all
arenas. The netting has also been implemented by other hockey leagues and organizing
bodies globally.
It took a death of a child for the professional hockey industry globally
to finally acknowledge that enough is enough.
Does your company have guidelines or recommendations on how to
properly secure a load of finished product out of your plant(s)? If not maybe
you should think about implementing one.
Please comment.
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