5 year old girl killed by 46,000 pound rolling ingot.....

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.