A close
call, also called a near miss, is an incident that might have resulted in injury, death or property damage, but did not. Often, people who have experienced a close call think about the incident as a lucky break, dust themselves off and get back to work without a second thought.
Read MoreA 22-year-old worker in Florida who accidentally grabbed a high-voltage power line after crashing his truck somehow managed to cheat death.
Zachary McLeod was zapped with 13,000 volts when he touched a power line that fell after his garbage truck hit a hydro pole on the side of Collins Road in Osteen.
McLeod was technically dead because a paramedic had to use an automated defibrillator to regain a heartbeat. In effect, McLeod had to be “shocked” again to be revived.
Info to go: Read more about electrical safety by clicking on the link at www.SafeSupervisor.com
Read MoreSudden scaffold collapses frequently do not have happy endings, but a recent incident in Daytona Beach, FL, shows what can go right when the unexpected happens and workers are prepared.
Construction workers Hector Rivera and Rosalio Portilla were replacing balconies at the eight-story Harbor Beach Resort when their work platform suddenly collapsed. Both men were saved by their safety harnesses, but not without receiving some injuries during their two-story plunge.
Rivera suffered a broken nose and facial cuts, while Portilla received a leg injury. Firefighters from the department’s High Angle Rescue Team helped both victims to safety.
Info to go: Read more about fall protection by clicking on the link at www.SafeSupervisor.com
Read MoreA 30,000-volt electrical shock could have had far more serious consequences for a worker at a Newfoundland and Labrador mine. Luckily, she survived with burns to one hand and both feet.
An investigation determined that the concentrator attendant received an electrical shock as a result of working with equipment whose energy sources had not been shut off.
Wabush Mines has been fined $12,000 after pleading guilty in a Newfoundland court to charges involving failure to provide a safe workplace; failure to inform, instruct and supervise workers, along with providing them with facilities necessary to ensure their health and safety; and failure to familiarize workers with hazards.
The company was also ordered to make a $3,500 contribution toward occupational health and safety public education.
Info to go: Read more about electrical safety by clicking on the link at www.SafeSupervisor.com
Read MoreIt’s hardly surprising to hear about old bridges and overpasses collapsing in North America, but a frightening incident occurred recently during construction of a new bridge near Lucknow, ON.
Six workers were injured after concrete crumbled on the new structure while 15 workers were standing on it. The structure, which spanned a creek, was closed to traffic at the time.
Firefighters expressed amazement that no one was trapped under the debris. Two workers suffered serious, but non-life-threatening injuries, while four others received cuts and bruises.
Ontario’s Ministry of Labour is trying to determine the cause of the collapse, although early indications suggest that scaffolding supporting concrete gave way.
Read MoreA young worker was critically injured when he dumped 3,000-degree molten slag into water at the Arcelor Mittal steel plant (formerly Bethlehem Steel) in Sparrows Point, MD.
John Cirri, a steel union spokesman, said workers are normally aware of the danger of mixing molten slag with water. He said it is possible that the burn victim did not see the water before the slag contacted it.
The explosion sent slag and steam high into the air. Some of it melted a metal roof on a nearby building and caused a two-alarm blaze.
Read MoreA retired BC Ferries captain who was continuing to work part time on a contract basis has lost that employment opportunity following a close call on the water.
The large Spirit of British Columbia ferry passed within 180 meters (590 feet) of a freighter at the narrow entrance to Active Pass on its way to Victoria on March 17, 2008. The captains of both ships had intended to pass one another outside the pass but a speed miscalculation resulted in a close call.
BC Ferries has a policy forbidding passing other vessels in the south entrance of the pass. The corporation says that a collision between the two vessels would likely have been catastrophic.
Read MoreAfter construction contractors determined that it was too windy to safely operate a huge crane, an operator began lowering its boom. That’s when the massive crane suddenly toppled, killing one worker and injuring three others at a power plant construction site near Weston, MO.
The crane, capable of lifting 150 tons, was not carrying a load when it tipped over on its side into a construction pit. The three workers who were admitted to hospital did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
Read MoreThree construction workers in Minneapolis survived a chain reaction lightning strike and all were back on the job the next day.
The three workers were standing on the back of a flatbed truck setting up construction cones near a runway when one of them, Jeremy Grinde, was struck in the head by a bolt of lightning. A second worker, Todd Olsen, watched the lightning bolt jump from Grinde to him and then to worker Boyd Heilig.
It was dark and Olsen said the lightning cast a blue light as it struck each of the workers.
Grinde was knocked unconscious but appeared uninjured when he came to. Olsen told a reporter that Grinde looked at his two co-workers with great suspicion when he regained consciousness. He at first believed they had hit him with something.
Read MoreHaving a saw kick back can be terrifying. For a 66-year-old worker in Canada, it resulted in the need for emergency abdominal surgery.
The man was using a table saw at an RV business in Edmonton, AB, when the saw kicked a piece of plywood toward him. The wood sliced into his lower abdomen and intestines.
Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety division put a stop-work order on the use of table saws at ArrKann Trailer and RV Centre until training and hazard assessments were undertaken.
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