Jay was
drilling holes in a shaft when a chunk of rock broke free from the
wall above him. The rock fell approximately 30 feet and hit him
squarely on the head. His helmet was cracked, but he avoided serious
injury.
 Paul
was working with another employee to remove debris and salt buildup
from a service shaft. They were operating out of a caged compartment
and servicing a leaking coupling when a piece of salt fell from
within the shaft. Paul was struck on the right side of his head,
his right forearm, and his right foot. While the force of impact
broke his hardhat and cracked a bone in his arm, he escaped life-threatening
head injuries.
Bob was drilling test holes in Agrium's #1 shaft. He had
extended a four-foot drill steel up a test hole and was about to
place a second steel in the chuck of his Fletcher Drill. Without
warning, the first steel slid out of the hole and stuck Bob on the
head. The steel bounced off his Topgard Cap and then slid down his
back. While Bob did sustain scratches down his back, his cap protected
him from life-threatening head injuries.
While positioning nylon chokers to lift and remove a reactor
feed pump, a control link arm pivoted unexpectedly. The arm -- weighing
more than 200 lbs. -- glanced off Jeffrey's V-Gard Helmet and knocked
his safety glasses to the ground. While he received a small laceration
above his right eye brow, his hat had prevented a direct hit and
serious injury.
Ha-Keem was welding on a combustion turbine project in Florida,
when rhe hose of a 110 psi air-driven impact wrench broke free from
a work area above him and whipped around wildly. A large metal attaching
mechanism slammed into Ha-Keem's face, but his MSA Sierra™ protective
eyewear took the brunt of the impact. While the glasses were bent
- one stem was twisted about three inches above the other - his
only injuries were some facial bruises and a slight headache.
Joe, a solution man for a steel company, was standing near
a desk in the plater section, when a large piece of corroded metal
fell 20 feet from the second tier facing plate. It struck Joe's
hardhat and glanced off. The metal put a hole in Joe's Skullgard
Cap. Fortunately, he sustained only a minor contusion to his head
and some muscle soreness in his neck, but Joe thanks his MSA Skullgard
® helmet (a heavy-duty Type I, Class G helmet) for saving his head.
 A
worker wearing an MSA Rose lanyard (left) fell and deployed
his lanyard on a job site in Colorado. In accordance with the "Rose
Promise," MSA replaced the used fall protection free of charge.
Larry was wearing an MSA Safety Works® faceshield from Home
Depot while turning a piece of pecan wood on his lathe when a large
portion broke off and smashed directly into the shield. The faceshield
protected him from serious injury.
Vern was sweeping debris from a road construction project
when the sideview mirror of a passing truck struck him on the head.
The doctor at the emergency room said Vern's V-Gard® Cap (which
split in two) took the initial impact of the hit and saved his life.
Richard was standing beside a ditch
being dug by a backhoe.The operator suddenly swung the bucket on
the equipment and accidentally struck Richard in the head. His V-Gard®
Helmet deflected much of the impact. Richard was treated for a concussion
and a bruised shoulder, but was released from the emergency room
the evening of the accident.
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Dear
Spotlight on Safety:
We hear a lot about how important it is to wear safety equipment
when you're on the job. What we don't realize is how much
of a difference it can make when something actually goes wrong.
I'm a foundry superintendent at a major steel manufacturer.
I was going about my business as I would on any other day.
Suddenly, everything changed when a ladle bale from one of
our 20-ton pour ladles broke loose above me. Fortunately,
I was wearing my MSA Skullgard® helmet. The bale hit me directly
in the head and knocked me down on the plant's cement floor.
The impact caused serious damage to my ankle, pelvis, and
one vertebra. While these injuries were significant, I didn't
sustain any head injuries from the impact. However, my scalp
was lacerated when the hat was knocked off. Fortunately, I
survived the accident.
My Skullgard hat deflected the force of the impact and saved
me from life-threatening injuries. Judging from the two large
cracks in the shell, there is no doubt that I would not be
writing to you if I hadn't been wearing my hat. Suffice it
to say, I will never wear any other type of hardhat.
Sincerely, Wayne Vaupel |
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Ten days after a Pittsburgh, PA.-area fire department received
their first thermal imaging camera, two fire- fighters took it into
a fire to search for possible victims. However, when they themselves
were suddenly trapped by intense heat and flames from a flashover,
they used the TIC to show them a safe route out of the building.
The chief commented that it didn’t take long for that TIC to pay
for itself.
Richard was helping to position a prefabricated wall panel
when the crane carrying the panel hit a steel beam that had not
been tacked into place. The beam was knocked loose and fell onto
Richard. The beam struck his head and shoulder, causing him shoulder
and arm injuries. He was spared any head injuries, and was told
he would have been killed if he hadn’t been wearing his helmet.
The next day, Richard was back at the work site to finish the job.
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Two
surveyors die in manhole
What killed them?
Was it methane gas or---
"No. Gas wasn't even a possibility!"
said Kay Garcia, an MSA sales representative who, along
with several MSA-authorized distributors, serves construction
contractors and crews in this Ohio area.
"The crazy thing was, it was a new development, with all-new
construction. Construction crews had put in streets with
manholes, etc., but the gas and sewer lines were not yet
in place. A surveyor team went in to survey some more points
for construction, and they needed to go down into the manhole.
"There was NOTHING inside that manhole-no possibility of
methane or combustible gas to harm them. They didn't realize
that they should have used fall protection and instruments
to measure oxygen or LEL, etc., anyway.
"Reportedly, one young man started to go down into the hole,
looked up at his boss and said, 'I must be claustrophobic,
because I don't feel right.' His boss assured him that everything
was OK. But a few steps later, he fell, supposedly because
his breath was taken away.
"Then, his boss yelled for help, took a gulp of air, went
down himself to try to get him out, couldn't breathe, and
also fell. They died in that hole together. Such a tragedy!"
After the Twinsburg Fire Department arrived, they measured
inside the space and got a reading of only 6% oxygen. (Remember,
we need about 20.9% oxygen to breathe normally.)
"The lack of oxygen was apparently due to chemical interactions
that accompany the curing of concrete. Curing concrete is
an isothermic reaction, which means that heat is generated.
The end result is the same as combustion: oxygen depletion.
The newly constructed streets that were still curing must
have used up most of the oxygen in the confined space under
the streets," reported Garcia.
Hearing about that tragedy has inspired construction companies
and others working around roads, bridges, and groundwork
for other developments to invest in confined space entry
equipment, fall protection, and instrumentation, such as
Passport® Alarms and MSA Rose confined spaces kits.
Never go into a confined space of any sort without first
testing for oxygen, at the minimum, even if that space is
"new" and "empty." For more information about portable gas
detectors best suited to your applications, call MSA at
1-800-MSA-2222.
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