"shoulder injury and 2 broken legs..."

 

Machinery extraction is rescue technique that few fire departments have the opportunity to train prior be called to an incident. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted incidents in the past where workers got pulled in or trapped in machinery. Here is a recent incident emphasizing the importance of allowing local fire departments access to practice machinery extraction rescues:

A 32-year-old man was seriously hurt in an industrial accident in a village in the Midwest USA one morning during the last week of April 2021.

Three local Fire Departments were called to (aluminium foundry name omitted), around 7:45 a.m.

A Flight for Life helicopter responded to the scene and transported the man to a Medical Center in town name omitted (50 kilometers away) for treatment for serious but not life-threatening injuries. The incident is under investigation.

We pray that the injured worker recovers fully from their injuries. Unconfirmed reports list the workers injuries as “shoulder inj and 2 broken legs”. We simply pray again for a full recovery and that the worker is provided all necessary resources to recover. We also hope the injured worker will be provided mental health counseling too.

Unconfirmed reports continued stating that the “Person had to be extricated so they were not free prior to responders arriving.” As with many incidents we post. We lack root cause of the incident. Regardless, we firmly believe every post, now exceeding 800, each one can be used as an educational tool to make your plant safer. Light Metal Age magazine is publishing an article in the next issue about the importance of working with your local fire department. We assume with the age of this plant and that we have reported on this foundry before. That the fire department and the foundry have had a dialogue. We do not know if their discussions involved allowing the fire department(s) to use the foundry for training. We pray that if that was not discussed it will be after this incident. We will update this incident when further information comes forth.

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