Not knowing English can cause all kinds of safety problems for workers, but a recent case in California shows how it may endanger non-workers too.
Temporary supporting structures must be designed to safely withstand all loads and the only person with the authority to inspect and approve such structures is a professional engineer, according to Saskatchewan’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Little is known about Antonio Tapia, 27, except that he was a Mexican immigrant and was living with a relative, Ricardo Vega Sanchez, and Sanchez’s wife and daughter, in Burlington, NJ.
An unsafe practice that was allegedly encouraged by his employer resulted in a 52-year-old man losing his life in December 2005.
Two feet of water would not seem to pose a drowning hazard for an adult, but it proved fatal for a 25-year-old lawn maintenance worker in New York. The 25-year-old man died after his riding mower tipped over into a pond in an industrial park.
A 40-year-old plumber was electrocuted when he contacted frayed wires on his work light.
A repairman for a communications company was electrocuted recently while fixing a damaged telephone pole in a Massachusetts community.
One man died in a construction site accident in Iowa earlier this year. Two men were working in a ditch replacing a sewer line when a wall of dirt suddenly caved in. One man was killed and the other suffered serious injuries to his legs.
A construction worker died in a smokestack fire at a West Virginia power plant and three others were plucked by helicopter from the 900-foot structure while it burned.
A restaurant owner in Buffalo, NY was killed in a shooting recently.
A crew was installing flagging material in the sand line with the rig engine running. Someone bumped the sand drum clutch lever. The drum was engaged and one employee fell into the compartment and was fatally injured.
A man working on an oil rig in western North Dakota was crushed by a tank and killed.
Two truck drivers were killed in two separate incidents in the mining industry. These fatalities had something in common - neither driver was wearing a seat belt.
It was late at night and traffic was light, but unfortunately not light enough. A car traveling through the Big Dig Tunnel in Boston was in the wrong place at the wrong time when four concrete slabs weighing several tons fell from the ceiling, killing a woman.
Fatigue can leave workers in a fog - which isn't a good atmosphere for clear, safe decision-making. The crash of a 747 cargo jet at Halifax International Airport in mid-October 2004 is being blamed in part on flight crew fatigue.
Two British Columbia workers and two paramedics who tried to help them all died very quickly from a lack of oxygen, according to coroner Bruce Chamberlayne. But the reason why a formerly safe area would turn deadly hasn't been stated.
A 19-year-old immigrant from Mexico died from heat stress on the job in Fort Worth, TX, where he reportedly never saw a paycheck.
If your workers mix and heat flammable solvents in open tanks, make sure they follow proper safeguards.
A train derailment that killed two train crewmembers in British Columbia has resulted in an order that all locomotives traveling through the Lillooet area where the accident occurred be equipped with special brakes.
It has taken more than two years, but a Nebraska company has finally pleaded guilty in the death of an employee who was buried alive by soybeans in 2003.
He loved working out at the gym and spending time with his girlfriend. But it all came to an abrupt end when a pile of heavy steel tubes crashed down on this 18-year-old worker at a welding shop in southern Ontario.
A Haitian man who was working hard for a better life died suddenly when scaffolding he was moving collapsed onto him at a construction site in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
What good is wearing a safety harness if you don't tie it off?
Lester Woda tugged on his safety rope to alert others that he was having trouble. The 49-year-old orchard manager was at the bottom of an irrigation tube, trying to fix a valve when his right foot became trapped.
Argon gas, used in welding, is not toxic but that doesn't mean it can't kill. Why? Argon gas can displace oxygen, potentially asphyxiating workers when used in confined spaces.
Since it's your first time, you may want to checkout some of the video tutorials.
800-ICW-SAFETY (800.429.7233)
SAFETYOnDemand@icwgroup.com