"One worker was buried alive...."

 

This was the photo used in one of the news articles. We post this so we can comment on the inappropriateness of it.

The use of hoppers in our industry is commonplace. They come in all size and shapes. They contain all sorts of raw materials, finished products, or waste in our industry. On occasion the openings of the hoppers can be come clogged. This recent incident highlights the hazard of clogged openings in hoppers.

An accident at an aluminium fluoride plant in Southern Asia claimed a person's life. The deceased was identified as (name omitted). A resident of (town name omitted) was working as a contract worker and was at the site when the incident occurred. According to sources, the incident happened when the aluminium ash was getting loaded and unloaded at the company. The contract worker was said to have slipped when the ash was getting dumped and died due to suffocation.

Incident occurred when he tried to clear block in a hopper, says official.

Another news article

One worker was buried alive when coal in a hopper collapsed on him at an industry here on Saturday. The deceased was identified as (name omitted), a resident of (town name omitted).

The incident occurred at aluminium fluoride plant in Southern Asia, in the city. The company produces aluminium fluoride.

According to Inspector, the incident occurred when the worker had gone inside a hopper that processes pulverised coal to the charging unit.

One of the nozzles in the hopper was blocked and he had gone inside it to clear the block. At that moment, the coal present inside collapsed on him and he was buried under it.

The police have registered a case and investigation is on. The body has been sent for post-mortem.

We offer our sincere condolences to the deceased worker’s family, friends, and coworkers. Many times, we are at a loss on what to say in response to a workplace fatality. We pray that the worker’s family remember him as he lived and not as he died. That is easier said than done we just pray that how he died does not overshadow how he lived. If that makes sense.

It appears from other news media articles that the worker was in a hopper and tried to free a clog. He was successful but buried with all of the material in the hopper. He suffocated. This hazard is sadly common in the agricultural industry, specifically farming.

If your company has a hopper(s). Do you have a policy on acknowledging clogs and a proper procedure to remove them? If not, why?

Lastly, and not to overshadow this incident the photo that the news media used in the article in our opinion is inappropriate. The use of it is simply poor judgement. We would never be disrespectful to the dead. We feel that the cartoon downplays the seriousness to the incident. That a life was loss.

We argued on whether or not the photo should be re-posted here. We decided to post it so we can start a dialogue on the seriousness of a loss of life in a workplace incident. We have posted over 700 incidents over the past 9 years. We shutter to think how many fatalities we covered. We pray that we were respectful to the deceased and did not take their loss for granted on every incident we posted. We continue with this blog out of respect for the dead. We pray that First, no incidents occur. Second; we pray that any incident we cover will be used to prevent a future recurrence. If not, then why do we do this? We do not do it for the money. There is no advertising. Why? We were offered advertising for the blog. We responded “No…..I think it would be disrespectful for the dead.” We do not do it for the glory. Our name is not on this blog. Though many know who we are, we purposely have not posted our name because this blog is not a vehicle to promote us. If that makes sense. We do this in all sincerity for the deceased and injured workers families. It is this group of individuals who have to deal with the aftermath of a deceased or injured family member. The hardship, unimaginable anguish that they go through motivate us to continue. Because we do not want anyone to be injured or killed in a workplace incident. We know of no other way to make a difference on a global scale. But, posting incidents on this blog and praying, and praying that by bring awareness to these hazards and incidents we can prevent a recurrence. Then and only then we will know that we have been successful.

Please comment.