MEC&F Expert Engineers : 05/28/15

Thursday, May 28, 2015

OSHA is investigating worker crushing death caused by an overturned crane in Nebraska during the construction of a wind farm



MAY 28, 2015
 
ELGIN, NEBRASKA (AP

The U.S. Department of Labor’s OSHA office in Omaha and the Antelope County Sheriff's office said they have opened investigations into the death Wednesday of a subcontractor worker on a road close to a wind farm construction site near Elgin.

Thomas L. Bales, 40, a crane operator from Denver, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, Antelope County Sheriff Bob Moore said in a news release. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, without identifying Bales, said he was employed by Tradesman International and was working for Wanzek Construction Inc., which is building the Prairie Breeze II Wind Energy Center near Elgin for Invenergy. 

OSHA said initial reports indicated he was moving a 90-ton rough-terrain crane along a county road when the crane slipped into a ditch and overturned about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. 

An autopsy has been ordered by the Antelope County Attorney's office.

OSHA said it has received complaints alleging workers at the site were exposed to hazards while working near county roads that aren't closed and don't have adequate warning signs. The agency said those allegations will be investigated along with the fatal incident.

"The safety of our employees, subcontractors, and everyone around our projects is our top priority," Wanzek Construction Vice President Arnold Jelinek said in a statement. "We are currently working with all relevant officials to determine the cause of the accident. We have also deployed grief support resources to assist crew members at this time.

"Our thoughts and condolences are with the family and friends of the deceased. Out of respect for the family, and because there is an ongoing investigation, we currently are unable to release additional information on the incident."
Darwin Crag, OSHA’s acting area director, said the victim had worked for Wanzek Construction for only 10 days.

"Even though temporary workers may only work on a jobsite a few days, weeks or months, employers still have a responsibility to train all employees, permanent and temporary, about the hazards to which they are exposed," he said in a news release.

Wanzek, based in West Fargo, North Dakota, was cited by OSHA in response to a workplace fatality in January 2011 when an employee was pinned between a semi-trailer and a pickup. The employer received one serious citation for not adequately training employees to identify large vehicles on the construction site that presented a hazard, OSHA said. The case was resolved and the employer paid a penalty of $6,300.

The Prairie Breeze II Wind Energy Center is under construction. Lincoln Electric System is committed to buying all the electricity it generates. 

An earlier phase of the project, the Prairie Breeze Wind Energy Center, began operations in May of 2014. Omaha Public Power District is buying all of the electricity generated there.

OSHA OFFICIALS INVESTIGATING DEATH OF COLUMBIA COUNTY CONSTRUCTION WORKER IN GEORGIA



 THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2015

Officials with the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration are investigating the death of a 20-year-old Mexican man who was fatally injured earlier this month in a fall at a Columbia County construction site.

Ricardo Ramirez Aguas, of Jackson Road in North Augusta, was pronounced dead in the early hours of May 16 at Georgia Regents Medical Center, according to Columbia County Deputy Coroner Harriett Garrison.

Garrison said Aguas was injured in a fall at a new home construction site in the Bartram Trail neighborhood in Evans about 2:30 p.m. on May 15. Garrison said the man had just delivered some water bottles to other members of a crew framing the second story of a house on the site when he fell, striking his head on a concrete floor in the basement area about 20 feet below.

“They said he came down to get water. He had four bottles of water with him,” Garrison said. “They did not see him fall, but when they turned around and looked he was on the cement in the basement part of the house.”

Garrison said the framing crew included Aguas’ two brothers and a brother-in-law and were employed by Noe Martinez, of 4189 Wheeler Road. Officials initially had a difficult time determining the circumstances of the death and locating Aguas’ employer because of the language barrier, Garrison said.

“None of these folks spoke English,” she said. “None of them had Social Security cards; none had visas or ID cards.”

A call to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson was not returned Thursday.

Garrison said Aguas’ body was returned last week to his home in the Mexican state of Queretaro.

William Fulcher, director of OSHA’s Atlanta East Area, which covers Augusta and Columbia County, said the agency was “actively investigating” the incident to determine whether safety regulations were violated at the construction site.

Fulcher identified the incident location as 2149 Fothergill Drive, where a new single family home is being built by Ashworth Homes LLC.

Ashworth Homes owner Russell Toxey Smith said he didn’t “feel comfortable” discussing the incident with a reporter on Thursday.

“I really don’t know much about it,” Smith said.

Fulcher said Aguas’ employer was working as a subcontractor for Ashworth Homes, which could also be held responsible for work site violations, should any be discovered.

“We also can look at who controls the job site and hold them just as responsible as we do the actual employer,” he said. “Regardless of whether there is a fatality or not, when we document a hazard, we will address that in the form of a violation or citation to the employer.

“If the violation is considered to be serious we are mandated by the OSHA Act to issue a penalty, and that penalty could range up to $7,000.”

Fulcher said OSHA takes falls very seriously because they are one of the leading causes of worker deaths in the U.S., and most are preventable.

“Fall accidents in construction account for about 30 to 40 percent of all the fatal accidents that OSHA investigates here in Georgia,” he said. The general rule for construction fall protection starts at 6 feet.”

Above that height, employers are supposed to provide “positive fall prevention” measures, such as railings, safety harnesses and safety nets to prevent injury to workers, he said.

In addition to safety measures, employers also are required to provide training to workers on what hazards they will encounter and how to avoid them, in the worker’s native language, which Fulcher said can sometimes be a problem in the construction industry.

“It all falls back on the employer,” he said. “If all they hire are Spanish-speaking employees, either they need to be speaking Spanish also or have a translator so the communication can be effective.”

Report a workplace safety violation to OSHA
Call the Atlanta East Area office at (770) 493-6644, or the 24-hour hotline at (800) 321-OSHA.

TANKER TRUCK FLIPS TO ITS SIDE, SPILLING 50 GALLONS OF FUEL IN NORCROSS, GEORGIA





A TANKER TRUCK OVERTURNED IN NORCROSS ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT. (SPECIAL PHOTO) 

MAY 28, 2015

NORCROSS, GEORGIA

Gwinnett County firefighters responded at about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday when a gasoline tanker truck overturned in Norcross.

Less than 50 gallons are estimated to have escaped from small leaks after the single-vehicle accident on Kingston Court, which is off the access road for Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, said Capt. Tommy Rutledge.

“The fire department’s hazardous materials response team was able to plug the diesel leak from the saddle tank and also worked to contain a moderate amount of gasoline runoff from the leaking tanker,” Rutledge said in a news release. 

“The driver was transported to the hospital for evaluation of a minor injury complaint.”

The gas reportedly went into grass on the roadside.

Firefighters remained at the scene awaiting a private cleanup company to upright the tanker and offload the remaining gasoline product. State environmental officials were notified of the incident by fire officials.

“There was minimal runoff in a nearby storm drain and creek bed,” Rutledge said. “Firefighters were successful at containing the runoff and kept the product from entering the waterway. Fortunately, the incident was on a side road and there was no impact to traffic on (Peachtree Industrial Boulevard).”

Only one lane of the access road was blocked by fire equipment and police vehicles.

The fire department’s hazardous materials team and one engine company was still at the scene around 2 a.m. to provide exposure protection for the cleanup company during the offloading process, Rutledge said.

The cause of the wreck wasn’t immediately clear.  However, these tanker trucks flip and rollover like puppies if the driver is not careful in making the turns or going around a curve.

Source: http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com

National outrage, after two K-9s found dead in Florida officer's SUV after being left overnight. The Davie police must assign the investigation to an independent agency - no cover up will be accepted.







Officer Nelson Enriquez with Jimmy (left) and with Hector. (Photos: Hialeah Police Department)

MAY 28, 2015

DAVIE, FLORIDA

Two police dogs were found dead in an unmarked SUV outside a Florida police officer’s home Wednesday, prompting an internal affairs investigation, which is ongoing.

Hialeah police said K-9 Officer Nelson Enriquez apparently left the dogs in the vehicle at the end of his midnight shift early Wednesday. 

The officer found the dogs around six hours later, police said.

The dogs were a 7-year-old bloodhound named Jimmy and a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois named Hector.

Enriquez has been a Hialeah police officer for 13 years and has handled K-9s for seven years, police said.

At a news conference Police Sgt. Carl Zogby said the deaths were a terrible tragedy and the dogs were beloved.

Zogby said Enriquez, who is married with two children, was also attached to the dogs, and was distraught.

Officers at the department wore black and navy striped mourning bands across their badges Thursday.

 What a terrible way to die.  After these magnificent animals are worked to death, they cannot even die a pieceful death.  This "officer" must pay dearly for this reckless act.


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As police dogs barked from their kennels at Hialeah police headquarters Thursday, a sergeant wearing a mourning band over his badge struggled to explain how two of the department's K-9 partners died in their handler's SUV while he was inside his Davie home.

The deceased K-9s — Jimmy, 7, a bloodhound who searched for missing children and adults, and Hector, 4, a Belgian Malinois that chased and caught suspects — were assigned to Hialeah Police Officer Nelson Enriquez.

Enriquez had worked a night shift that began at 11 p.m. Tuesday and ended about 7 a.m. Wednesday, when he continued working a few hours more to assist in the search for a missing older man.

"From what I have learned is that he entered his home sometime mid-to-late morning [Wednesday], and left the dogs in the vehicle," Hialeah Police Sgt. Carl Zogby said.

Enriquez is a veteran cop "in good standing" who has worked 13 years for the department and was a K-9 officer for the past seven years, Zogby said.

At about 5 p.m., he discovered his K-9 partners were dead inside his Ford Explorer SUV. They may have been trapped for six hours.

"You can imagine his reaction," Zogby said. "The officer is extremely distraught. He has lost two beloved members of his family."

Necropsies will determine how the dogs died, and the cause will probably be related to being inside a very hot car, police said.

Enriquez is married with two young children who were also very attached to the dogs that lived both inside the house, and if weather permitted, in outdoor kennels in the officer's yard, Zogby said.

The officer's SUV has a "fail-safe safety mechanism" that will not let the dog suffer heat exhaustion in the car, but there is a catch: the vehicle has to be running for the safety functions to work, Zogby said.

The system measures the internal temperature of the car and if it rises to an unsafe level, the windows will lower, alarms will go off and a fan will run.

"Unfortunately these systems are made for a vehicle that is running for a K-9 officer that is on duty," Zogby said. "We know of nothing that could have forewarned the officer of this situation once the vehicle is turned off. That is our take on it so far."

Enriquez worked with the caramel-colored bloodhound for six years and the tan Malinois that had a black mask during the year it was with the department.

"Davie Police are the lead investigating agency, and with the Broward State Attorney's Office will make the final determination whether this was an accident or if this was any sort of abuse or negligence," Zogby said.

He said the department wants to know "exactly what happened here. We will deal with the outcome of it and we will deal with how to avoid this ever happening again."

Hialeah police are also conducting an internal affairs investigation.

Hialeah police are supporting Enriquez "because we know that he is suffering more than anyone," Zogby said. "This is a terrible tragedy. Every member of the Hialeah Police Department was beyond fond of Jimmy the bloodhound and of Hector. We were in love with those dogs."

Davie police were called to Enriquez's home in west Davie at about 6:50 p.m., Davie Police Sgt. Pablo Castaneda said.

"We're investigating this just like any other animal crime," Castaneda said.
Per his agency's protocol, Enriquez was suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigations.

The animals' bodies were stored at the Hollywood Animal Hospital Wednesday night. On Thursday afternoon, they were driven to Gainesville to the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine, which will perform necropsies.

A university spokeswoman said she did not know when the exams will happen and that final results may take several weeks to obtain, depending on what is found and the testing that is required.

The dogs were escorted from the Hollywood Animal Hospital by Hialeah motorcycle officers and K-9 officers during the five-hour trip north. Hialeah police command staff, including Chief Sergio Velazquez, were present for their departure.

The dogs' remains were inside blue body bags that were placed in the covered bed of a silver Ford F-15 pickup that was driven by Davie police officers.

Asked whether Enriquez had undergone a sobriety test, Zogby said, "Not that I'm aware of, but all options are open to internal affairs investigators.

"We will wait for the complete outcome of the investigation to see if there is any discipline applicable in this case, perhaps any internal policy violations or anything of that sort," Zogby said. "This is definitely an unfortunate incident that should not have happened."

Enriquez was praised as handler of two K-9s with different skill sets that made them a versatile trio: they could respond to calls to find vanished children or hunt for suspects on the run.

"It's not common to have two dogs, and he demonstrated his ability and competence," Zogby said. "We'd never assign another dog to a K-9 officer unless he was extremely qualified. He is an extraordinarily gifted handler, he's proven himself and he earned the other dog. Plus it made him a more complete K-9 officer."  This is typical BS language.  This guy is a clown for causing the death of these work dogs.

With Enriquez's input, the department plans to erect a memorial to the animals to commemorate their service to the city, which has had a K-9 unit for six decades and has nine dogs remaining on the force.

Jimmy was the sole bloodhound. He was donated to the agency by the Jimmy Ryce Center and was involved in perhaps "hundreds of missions," Zogby said.
He was loved by Hialeah school kids who participated in mock drills to find missing children, the sergeant said.

Jimmy Ryce was 9 when he was abducted, raped and murdered in 1995 while walking from his school bus to his southwest Miami-Dade home.

His parents, Don and Claudine Ryce, created the Center to provide free bloodhounds to police departments.

Don Ryce released a statement Thursday that said he was "deeply saddened to learn of the tragic death of two remarkable police dogs" and that he hoped, with the help of the public, that the Center could raise funds to replace the dogs.

Police use bloodhounds for their ability to track scents. The Ryces have said that if a bloodhound was used in their son's case, the boy may have been recovered while he was still alive.

Jimmy Ryce's killer, farmhand Juan Carlos Chavez, was at Florida State Prison when he was executed by lethal injection on Feb. 12, 2014.

Semi crash causes 50 gallons of fuel spill, road closure in Puyallup, Washington


Fuel spill in Puyallup
Fuel spill in Puyallup, WA
MAY 28, 2015
 
PUYALLUP, WASHINGTON 

Meridian Street in Puyallup was closed for hours overnight after a semi crashed and spilled 50 gallons of fuel.

All lanes of South Meridian Street at 35th Avenue in front of the South Hill Mall were closed after the incident at 10 p.m. Wednesday.

The road was closed until about 12:45 a.m. while the fuel was cleaned up and the load that had shifted on the semi was secured.

Puyallup police said the spill was less than 50 gallons.

No one was hurt.

10 WORKERS HOSPITALIZED AFTER AMMONIA GAS LEAK AT THE AGRIUM INC. PLANT IN BORGER, TEXAS




MAY 28, 2015

BORGER, TEXAS (AP)

Ten people were taken to hospitals after an ammonia gas leak at a chemical plant in the Texas Panhandle.

The incident happened about 4:15 p.m. Thursday at the Agrium Inc. plant in Borger, about 40 miles northeast of Amarillo.

Borger police Lt. Brandon Strope says the 10 people, all employees, were taken to Panhandle hospitals by ambulance and helicopter. He also says plant officials say the gas release is contained and poses no danger to the surrounding community.

Plant manager Gill Craig says of the 10 taken to nearby Golden Plains Community Hospital, two were transferred to Northwest Texas Healthcare System hospital in Amarillo in stable condition. 

It was unclear if the other eight workers were admitted to Golden Plains. A message left with its spokeswoman Thursday night wasn't returned.

STATEMENT FROM THE AGRIUM, INC. MANAGEMENT

Borger, Texas ammonia leak Incident Update

May 28, 2015

Agrium experienced a small ammonia release at its Borger, Texas nitrogen facility this afternoon that has impacted some of our contract workers on site. 

At approximately 4:15 pm Central Time, an ammonia pump leaked while being prepared for the restart of operations.  We were able to quickly secure the situation with no impact on the local community. Thirteen workers were exposed, and 10 have been transported to the hospital for evaluation. 

The workers impacted were working on the construction area of the facility at the north end of the site. Plant operations personnel are working with the state police, local fire department and regulatory agencies to deem the plant safe and reopen the local roads.

We will update you as soon as we are apprised of the condition of the impacted workers.

Our thoughts are with the injured workers and their families.