Nissan plant cited, ordered to pay fine after employee death
Ariana Maia Sawyer , USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee Published 8:31 p.m. CT Feb. 24, 2017 | Updated 9:34 p.m. CT Feb. 24, 2017
The Nissan plant in Smyrna, TN has been cited and ordered to pay $29,000 in fines by the state's Department of Labor and Workforce Development after an employee was killed on the job late last year.
According to labor department records, which detail the investigation into the incident and subsequent citations, the Smyrna plant failed to either ensure that employees stay out of mechanical testing areas or provide machine guarding.
The plant was also cited for failing to perform certain related annual safety inspections.
Parul Bajaj, a spokesperson for Nissan, said the plant is contesting the citations.
"The safety and well-being of our employees is always our top priority," Bajaj said. "We dedicate extensive time and resources to safety programs and training at the plant."
Dennis Pinkston, 46, received a “severe crushing head injury” Nov. 16 while checking that repairs to a conveyor belt had been successful, the report says. He was struck by a 1,275-pound counterweight that should have been secured by a large portion of metal mesh but that had been removed by mechanics during the repair process.
Pinkston was also too close to the opening in the mesh and leaned in while the machine was cycling on, the report says. The report also notes he could not have been struck at all had the mesh guard been put back in place.
He was taken by medical helicopter to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in critical condition where a Nissan spokeswoman said he died.
Person airlifted after accident at Smyrna Nissan plant
After the fatal accident, the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) responded to the scene to investigate the incident.
Bajaj said the plant continues to work on determining what can be done to prevent future occurrences.
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In the inspection, Nissan did score high on their overall safety and health management program.
It is part of Nissan’s training procedures to replace machine guards before running a test cycle, according records of their procedures obtained by TOSHA inspectors.
According to the citation notes, the same Nissan plant was cited for not keeping an employee out of a testing area once before, in 2013. The plant was also cited in 2015 for failing to provide machine guarding in an incident that resulted in an employee losing a fingertip.
Additionally, employees interviewed during the investigation told a TOSHA inspector that machine guards sometimes are not replaced during a repair test when the guard is heavy.
And as of two weeks after Pinkston's death, inspectors reported they were not sure what efforts, if any, Nissan had made to correct the danger.
Pinkston's death marked the plant's third in five years.
In June 2013, Nissan maintenance technician Michael Hooper, 43, was involved in a fatal accident in the body assembly area of the Smyrna vehicle assembly plant.
Then in April 2013, an unidentified man, who worked for Nissan supplier Complete Automation, was killed when a large electrical panel fell while it was being moved.
In January 2012, contract driver Martin O'Connell, 50, of Murfreesboro was killed when he became trapped between his truck and a set of parked trailers.
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A Smyrna Nissan Vehicle Assembly Plant employee killed at work this week has been identified by family as Dennis Pinkston and, according to new reports, he apparently died as a result of head trauma.
Pinkston, who lived in Murfreesboro, was fatally injured in an industrial accident Wednesday morning at the plant at 983 Nissan Drive.
According to Rutherford County dispatch report, emergency crews responded at 10:45 a.m. to the business for a report of an employee whose head had just been crushed in a machine.
He was taken by medical helicopter to Vanderbilt Medical Center in critical condition where a Nissan spokeswoman said he died.
Friends of Pinkston have created a Go Fund Me site to help pay for the cost of his funeral. As of Friday more then $18,000 of a $25,000 goal had been raised.
According to the site, Pinkston was a loving husband, father, son, brother, cousin and friend and "will be greatly missed by many."
Pinkston's brother Mark Little said funeral arrangements are pending. The funeral, he said, will be open to the public.
After the fatal accident, the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) responded to the scene to investigate the incident.
A final TOSHA investigation report is expected to be released within six weeks.
Pinkston's death marked the third in five years at the plant.
In June 2013, Nissan maintenance technician Michael Hooper, 43, was involved in a fatal accident in the body assembly area of the Smyrna vehicle assembly plant
Then in April 2013, an unidentified man, who worked for Nissan supplier Complete Automation, was killed when a large electrical panel fell while it was being moved.
In January 2012, contract driver Martin O'Connell, 50, of Murfreesboro was killed when he became trapped between his truck and a set of parked trailers.
High levels of manganese found on Chicago's Far South Side
Sunday, February 26, 2017 02:41PM
CHICAGO -- Dusty mounds of petroleum coke are no longer in Chicago, but federal and city officials have discovered a potentially more dangerous kind of pollution while investigating the black piles that once towered above the city's Far South Side.
Air monitors posted around two storage terminals on the Calumet River in 2014 and 2015 detected alarming levels of manganese, the Chicago Tribune reported. The heavy metal is used in steelmaking and can permanently damage the nervous system and trigger anxiety, learning difficulties and memory loss.
Investigators say they have an idea about which company is responsible for the pollution, but their efforts to pinpoint the culprit and crack down on its emissions have been thwarted for nearly three years.
The company, S.H. Bell Co., stockpiles manganese and other materials near the former petcoke sites. The Pittsburgh-based firm says it's not responsible for the pollution.
The company has repeatedly ignored Chicago regulations adopted in 2014 that require bulk storage operators to install air pollution monitors around their properties' perimeter. S.H. Bell Co. also rejected a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency request for monitoring equipment, prompting the EPA to sue the company in federal court last year.
Now S.H. Bell Co. is resisting the city's efforts to get the monitors installed before a March 1 deadline it agreed to as part of a legal settlement with federal authorities.
"Cases like this show why it's so important to have government agencies looking out for communities when corporations dig in their heels and do everything they can to avoid complying with the law," said Mary Gade, a former top EPA official in Chicago during the administration of former President George W. Bush. "Without a well-trained, experienced enforcement staff, it's easier for companies to cut corners in ways that can harm people."
About 20,000 people, including more than 1,700 children ages 5 and younger, live in low-income, predominantly Latino neighborhoods within a mile of the S.H. Bell facility.
Two members of the Dover Police Department have died after an early morning crash. The statistics on deadly crashes show that most drunks die in the early a.m. hours, like these two did.
Sunday, February 26, 2017 06:21PM
DOVER, DELAWARE (WPVI) -- Two members of the Dover Police Department have died after an early morning crash.
They are identified as 23-year-old Patrolman Robert DaFonte, a two-year-veteran of the Dover Police Department, and 22-year-old Cadet James Watts, a six-month member of the Special Enforcement Cadet Unit.
"It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we announce the tragic loss of two members of the Dover Police Department family. Officer Robert DaFonte and Cadet James Watts were outstanding employees and were committed to serving the citizens of Dover. As we mourn the loss of our fellow officer and cadet, we ask the community to keep their families and the members of the Dover Police Department in your thoughts," Deputy Chief Marvin Mailey said in a statement.
A mourner left flowers at the crash site where two Dover police officers were killed Sunday morning.
The crash occurred around 4:05 a.m. Sunday at Hazletville and Nault roads in Dover. They were both off-duty at the time.
Delaware State Police say DaFonte was driving a 2016 Jeep Wrangler and approaching a sharp right curve on Hazlettville Road.
Police say the Jeep traveled off the road down an embankment and struck a utility pole with the driver's side door.
The Jeep continued westbound overturning.
Watts, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was ejected from the vehicle.
The Jeep came to a stop on the passenger side.
Police say DaFonte was wearing a seatbelt, but Watts was not.
Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Collision Reconstruction Unit is continuing their investigation into the fatal crash.
Patrolman DaFonte was a native of Hartley; Cadet Watts was from Camden-Wyoming.
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State mourns deaths of 2 Dover officers who were speeding and crashed their car into a pole.
Brittany Horn and Jerry Smith , The News Journal Published 12:23 p.m. ET Feb. 26, 2017 | Updated 13 hours ago
(Photo: Dover Police Department)
Two speeding off-duty members of the Dover Police Department were killed Sunday in an early morning crash west of Dover.
The deaths of the two men, both in their early 20s, prompted a flurry of support and condolences from not only Dover but the entire state as news of the fatal crash spread. Do not drink and drive, do not speed and drive.
Dover patrolman, Robert E. DaFonte, 23, was driving his 2016 Jeep Wrangler westbound shortly after 4 a.m. Sunday with 22-year-old James D. Watts inside his vehicle, said Master Cpl. Gary Fournier, a spokesman with Delaware State Police.
DaFonte, of Hartly, and Watt, a cadet with the Dover Police Department, were headed westbound on Hazlettville Road, east of Nault Road, approaching a sharp right curve, Fournier said. Neither were working at the time of the crash, according to Dover police.
The Jeep failed to make the curve in the road and drove off the south side of the two-lane roadway, down an embankment where it struck a utility pole, the driver’s side door taking the brunt of the impact, Fournier said. The Jeep then overturned, ejecting Watts before coming to rest on the passenger side of the vehicle.
Officer Robert DaFonte and Cadet James Watts of the Dover Police Department were killed in an off-duty crash on Hazlettville Road on a right curve in the road just before Nault Road in West Dover at about 4:05 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 26. (Photo: Doug Curran, DOUG CURRAN/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS)
DaFonte, who was properly restrained, was pronounced dead at the scene, Fournier said. Watts, of Camden-Wyoming, was not properly restrained and also was pronounced dead at the scene.
Fournier said there was no evidence to indicate the involvement of drugs or alcohol (yeah, sure, buddy. Drunks typically speed and die in the a.m. hours. The Jeep came off the road either because he was speeding or because he was too drunk to see the sharp curve and adjust his course.) The state Division of Forensic Science will conduct full autopsies, as well as toxicology reports, he said, as is protocol for all fatal crashes.
DaFonte's aunt, Sue Monaco, stopped at the crash scene Sunday, needing to see where her nephew died. She called the crash a tragedy for both families involved, adding that the Dover Police Department is "such a family."
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Roses mark the place where two off-duty Dover police officers died in a crash early Sunday morning. (Photo: JERRY SMITH/THE NEWS JOURNAL)
"I didn't know anybody who didn't like Robert," Monaco said. "He had a blithe spirit."
DaFonte, who had served with the Dover Police Department for two years, went out of his way for others, according to his aunt. After hearing she needed a new roof, he arranged for a group of his friends to go to her house and get it done for her, she said.
As a police officer, he was particularly proud of his marksmanship skills, Monaco added.
"He loved being a police officer," she said.
Dover Police Department Deputy Chief Marvin Mailey asked the community Sunday to keep the families of the two DPD members in their thoughts. DaFonte was a two-year-veteran of the force, while Watts was a six-month member of the Special Enforcement Cadet Unit, which assists the police department in enforcing ordinances, completing arrest paperwork and other duties.
Facebook | @Dover Police Department
"It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that
"It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we announce the tragic loss of two members of the Dover Police Department family," Mailey said in a release. "Officer Robert DaFonte and Cadet James Watts were outstanding employees and were committed to serving the citizens of Dover."
Master Cpl. Mark Hoffman, a spokesman for the city police department, said no vigils or services have been planned by the department at this time.
The crash remains under investigation by the state police Collision Reconstruction Unit. Hazlettville Road between Apple Grove School Road and Nault Road was closed for about three hours while the crash was investigated and cleared.
A school bus carrying five students crashed down an embankment in Pike Creek, Delaware.
Updated 18 mins agoA school bus carrying five students crashed down an embankment in Pike Creek, Delaware.
The crash happened around 7 a.m. Monday on the 100 block of Upper Pike Creek Road.
Police say the bus driver lost control before falling down the embankment and hitting a tree.
The driver and five students are being checked out at a nearby hospital for minor injuries.
Motorists should expect delays at the crash site.
KIPS BAY, Manhattan, NYC (WABC) -- Police are investigating a startling moment in Manhattan when a Go-pro Karma drone crashed into an apartment in Kips Bay on Saturday afternoon.
Investigators say a 66-year-old woman was sitting on her computer in her Waterside Plaza high-rise apartment overlooking the East River when a Karma drone shattered her window.
The drone crashed through the window and landed just a few feet away from her. She wasn't injured.
Detectives are looking at the serial number on the drone to figure out where it came from. Right now they are investigating this as a case of criminal mischief.
The investigation is ongoing. Police do not know whether the drone is registered at this time.
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Why GoPro's Karma drone came crashing down
The dream of an American-made drone may be dead
by Ben Popper Nov 11, 2016, 10:45am EST
When GoPro launched its Karma drone earlier this year, it seemed like the perfect fit. The company was founded on action cameras, but had seen sales of its flagship Hero line sink since 2014. Over the same time period, the sale of camera drones to consumers had exploded. By bundling its camera with a drone, GoPro could breathe new life into a flagging product line.
Unfortunately for GoPro, its Karma drones started falling out of the sky in alarming numbers, and the company was forced to issue a recall. It’s hard to imagine that GoPro went to market thinking something like this might happen, and of course the company would strive to produce a safe, reliable product. But discussions with drone industry experts and sources familiar with the process of engineering and designing the Karma drone, show that the company should have been prepared for exactly this kind of incident.
They should have seen this coming
"People think it is so easy to build a small, autonomous drone. It's really not," says Michael Blades, a drone industry analyst with Frost & Sullivan. "DJI is a drone company. [GoPro] is a camera company. It doesn't surprise me that they are having technical problems with their first drone product, even after the delays. That's actually to be expected." This piece, published before Karma units reached the public and reports of failures hit the internet, predicted the problems to a T. 
These failures are part of the learning curve
The web is littered with forum posts, Facebook rants, and YouTube videos from angry customers who bought drones from DJI, Yuneec, Parrot, and 3D Robotics over the past three years, only to have them fall out of the sky. Plenty more drones flew off at random and never returned home. "DJI has gone through the Phantom, P2, P3, and P4 as well as the Inspire (which has had it's own hiccups) to work out the kinks in stabilization of the aircraft and robustness of their subsystems," says Blades. "If [GoPro] expected to have a perfect product in Karma, they were dreaming."
Several sources familiar with the design process for the Karma point to the placement of the camera and gimbal as one possible source of the issues. Most drones have the camera slung underneath to establish a solid center of gravity. By putting its camera way out front, GoPro’s Karma drone was faced with a far more difficult balancing act. Sources say early testing showed the front-heavy design led to greater vibration, and those forces can sometimes shake loose a detachable battery, leading to the kind of sudden power failure seen in Karma crash videos.
I was midway through writing a review of the Karma when the recall happened. I’ve flown the unit a dozen times in different locations and conditions and never had an issue. It wasn’t an aircraft of the same caliber as the new DJI Mavic Pro, but it had a unique value proposition: a drone, a handheld stabilizer, and a waterproof camera all in one package — a more complete and flexible set of tools for capturing an epic adventure.
The problem with trying to be many things at once is that you focus less on the drone, a gadget that is naturally not very fault tolerant. If your camera were to power down at random once every couple of months, you might get frustrated, but you would probably live with it. If your iPhone’s GPS went wonky, you would be annoyed, but you wouldn’t demand a recall if you could clear up the issue simply by restarting the device. With a drone in midair, those same problems could be fatal.
Other drone companies have dealt with similar issues without issuing a recall by aggressively chasing down data on the cause of the crash and pushing firmware upgrades, sometimes without customers opting in, that fixed the issue. And hobbyists have come to expect that the lithium-ion batteries used for most consumer camera drones will act up. "Anyone who has flown drones a lot has had similar battery issues," says a drone industry veteran who has worked a both a pilot and inside a major drone manufacturer. "This is the reality of how these devices are powered." "They are still learning, while the competition has grown up."
GoPro, a public company based in the US, is already on shaky ground with investors and was poorly positioned to handle the same shocks. GoPro made the mistake of trying to launch something without extensive field testing of a beta product first, and at a level of complexity that could rival the far more experienced brands. "This is the learning curve that DJI and Yuneec have already been through," says Colin Snow, CEO of Skylogic Research. "It’s the kind of thing that happens with your first generation of drone. The problem for GoPro is, they are still learning, while the competition has grown up."
GoPro waited until the world was distracted with the presidential election to issue a recall for all 2,500 Karma units it had sold so far. It left open the possibility that Karma would go back on sale, once the problem had been identified and resolved, but industry analysts weren’t optimistic. This failure, along with the rest demise of 3D Robotics consumer drone business, showed American startups struggling to keep pace with their Chinese rivals. "It knocks the US out of the market," said Snow. "Engineering in the US, forget about it. We’ll have to stick to software."
