Man dies in Wood Chips
I found this article in the newspaper and given that we do the same type of work thought I should pass it along…
From the January 10, 2008 Fall River Herald Newspaper…”A 41-year-old New Hampshire man was killed Thursday when he was crushed by wood chips in an industrial accident at 13 Ridge Hill Road. Lt. Walter Sawicki, police spokesman, said Haynes Trucking employees notified police shortly after 9 a.m. of the incident at the company’s wood chip storage site. When police and fire department personnel arrived, they found the victim’s body trapped in a large volume of wood chips, Sawicki said. Paramedics determined that he was dead. The victim, whose identity was withheld by police, was employed by Haynes Trucking. Sawicki said the man was operating a tractor-trailer unit and delivering a load of wood chips to the site. “The trailer is equipped with a conveyor to assist in the unloading of the chips,” Sawicki said. “Apparently, the chips became ‘stuck’ and the driver, without turning the conveyor off, climbed into the trailer’s bed in an effort to dislodge the chips. At that time, he sunk into the chips.” About 20 minutes later, co-workers began searching for the driver and suspected that he was consumed by the wood chips, Sawicki said. “They maneuvered a loader and began pushing chips aside when they observed the victim,” he said. Police required the use of a Highway Department backhoe to dislodge the body from the wood chips, Sawicki added. The state Medical Examiner’s Office took custody of the body. The cause of death remains under investigation, Sawicki said. Detective Sgt. Charles Sullivan and Officer Michael Connell conducted a preliminary investigation, assisted by state police and state Department of Public Health officials.”
Apparently the trailer had a live floor and the driver did not turn it off prior to climbing into the trailer. Now there are a couple of thing wrong with this:
1. The employee should have never tried to dislodge the stuck material by hand. As stated in the article the company had backhoe on site and they could have used.
2. The employee failed to turn off the live floor. This is wrong on so many levels, the trailer because to the material in it is classified as a “Permit Required Confined Space” so the employee should have never enter the space without meeting those guidelines AND because the live floor was running was a violation of the Lockout/Tagout Regulation.
3. Basic common sense - how was the employee planning to get out of the trailer and who knew he was in there?
Remember, it only takes a second to make a decision - Make sure it is the right decision and NEVER, EVER put yourself or any part of your body into harm’s way.
Good story, sad ending.
You rock, Safety Dude!!
Thank s for all that you do. I’ve been in commercial construction for 20 years and safety for 6, I’m still learning and I want to grow up to be a really great safety person. thanks for the help!