CN Suing Over Train Derailment
Two men who allegedly took an 11,000-kilogram compactor for a joyride west of Edmonton before abandoning it on train tracks, are being sued by CN Rail.
Also being sued is Aecon Construction Company, a contractor who allegedly left the compactor at an unsecured worksite with an unlocked electrical isolation switch cover, making it vulnerable to theft.
An 86-car freight train slammed into the paving machine in darkness on July 10, 2008, causing two locomotives and 12 cars to derail. Fortunately, none of the train cars was carrying hazardous materials. No injuries were reported.
The lawsuit alleges that the men, both 27, either knew or ought to have known that trains were likely to proceed along the tracks upon which the paving machine had been abandoned.
Police said it was fortunate that the derailment didn’t cause train cars to fall onto busy Highway 16 below. CN Rail is seeking $2 million for damage to the train, tracks and surrounding property.
Read MoreFatal Scaffold Collapse Brings Charges
A Christmas Eve 2009 scaffold collapse that killed four migrant workers in Toronto and badly injured a fifth worker has brought multiple OHS charges against two companies and managers.
The Ontario Ministry of Labour has laid 30 charges against Metron Construction Corp., along with 16 charges against a company director and eight against a supervisor.
Swing “N” Scaff Inc., which supplied the platform that collapsed, faces four charges, while a company director has been charged with three OHS violations.
The Ministry of Labour did not name the three individuals facing charges.
Five workers were repairing balconies at a Toronto apartment block when the scaffold upon which they were working gave way, plunging the men 13 stories to the ground. Miraculously, one of the men survived, suffering serious spinal and leg injuries.
The survivor, Dilshod Marupov, 22, is reportedly still in constant pain and can barely get out of bed. He has launched a lawsuit seeking $16.3 million in damages.
Among the numerous OHS charges against Metron are allegations of:
- Failure to ensure that a worker on or getting on or off a suspended platform/suspended scaffold wore a full body harness connected to a fall arrest system.
- Failure to ensure that a suspended platform was maintained in a condition which does not endanger a worker.
- Failure to ensure that an outrigger beam was secured against horizontal or vertical movement and had securely attached counterweights designed and manufactured for the purpose.
- Failure to ensure that a competent worker inspected a suspended platform or suspended scaffold daily.
- Failure to ensure that a worker received adequate training and oral and written instructions on fall protection and scaffold loading from a competent person.
The charges against Swing “N” Scaff Inc. include:
- Failure to ensure that a suspended platform was in good condition.
- Failure to ensure that a suspended scaffold or platform was designed by a professional engineer in accordance with good engineering practices.
- Failure to ensure that a suspended scaffold or platform had required design drawings.
Info to go: Read more about scaffolding safety by clicking on the Info to Go safety links at www.SafeSupervisor.com
Read MoreTelephone Company on Hook for Woman’s Injury
Leaving an accident scene to get help was the wrong thing for an employee to do after his work vehicle struck and killed a horse. That action has resulted in a large jury award to a woman whose car struck the dead horse in darkness.
A jury in Washington State has awarded Nanette Aurdal $2.7 million for injuries she received in the December 2001 accident.
The jury found that Sprint’s United Telephone Company of the Northwest was liable because one of its employees, John Burston, had left the scene after the bucket truck he had been driving struck the horse. The truck was carrying flares, cones and other safety devices that could have been utilized to warn other drivers that a dead horse was on the road.
Aurdal suffered spinal injuries that resulted in chronic pain and significant financial hardship. The jury heard that her injuries made it impossible for her to have children and she had to close down a family business because she could only work for two hours per day.
Read MoreWidow Awarded $10 Million for Husband’s Workplace Death
A jury in Alabama has awarded a woman $10 million in damages for the work-related death of her husband two years ago.
Christopher Hardin Dupree, 28, died on June 18, 2008 after falling about 150 feet from a water tank he was painting in Hurtsboro, AL. His widow, Erica Fleming Dupree, successfully sued general contractor Robinson and Sons Construction Services of Haleyville, AL, for negligence and failure to provide safe working conditions.
Dupree had been suspended from a rope on top of the tank and was wearing a harness, but it is believed his safety gear somehow malfunctioned, causing him to fall.
Dupree’s attorney, Chuck Kelley, asked jurors to bring a verdict that would send the message home that unsafe working conditions won’t be tolerated.
Read MoreNew Jersey Transit Ordered to Pay $575,000
OSHA has ordered New Jersey Transit to almost $575,000 to a worker for violating the Federal Railroad Safety Act by retaliating against an employee who reported a work-related illness.
New Jersey Transit brought an employee up on charges for missing work after suffering a work-related illness as a result of witnessing a fatal accident involving another worker. The railroad also cut the worker’s pay and suspended him.
The worker then filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA, alleging that the railroad had retaliated against him for reporting his work-related illness. OSHA investigated and found that the employee’s complaint had merit.
OSHA has ordered New Jersey Transit to expunge from the worker’s records all disciplinary actions taken against him. The railroad must also provide back pay, lost benefit payments, interest, compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney fees totaling almost $575,000.
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