Firefighter battling SoCal wildfire dies from ‘thermal injuries, smoke inhalation’
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — A firefighter died Thursday while working a colossal wildfire burning in coastal mountains northwest of Los Angeles that has become the fourth largest in California history. Cory Iverson was an engineer with a state fire engine strike team based in San Diego. Iverson, 32, is survived by his pregnant wife and a 2-year-old daughter, said Fire Chief Ken Pimlott of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
An arc flash at the Panda Power station in south Sherman, Texas, sent one employee to the hospital. Sherman Fire says It happened around 7:30 a.m. at 510 Progress Drive in Sherman. The Panda Sherman Power Project is a clean natural gas-fueled, 758-megawatt combined-cycle generating facility. The plant can supply the power needs of up to 750,000 homes.
Zach Spicer, a substation supervisor for DES, Dickson County, Tenn., suffered second-degree burns to his face and neck and third-degree burns Aug. 25 afternoon on his hands and forearm at the DES Old White Bluff Substation just as he prepared to teach a class.
He was accessing a breaker cabinet, high voltage side when contact or an arc formed, causing an electrical fault that released heat and energy.
The US Department of Labor estimates that every day in the United States five to ten Arc Flash Explosions occur on the job. Arc Flashes are incredibly violent and devastating to any worker exposed to the instantaneous phenomenon. Most of the time the exposure will result in serious injury or even death. Electrical equipment is designed to withstand up to a certain amount of current.
Electrical contractors are responsible for the health and safety of employees who are exposed to a variety of hazards. Some of these hazards are obvious, such as electrical shock and electrocution. Others, such as musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), back injuries, slips and falls, or automobile-related incidents may not be as obvious.
An arc flash occurs during a fault, or short circuit condition, which passes through this arc gap. The arc flash can be initiated through accidental contact, equipment which is underrated for the available short circuit current, contamination or tracking over insulated surfaces, deterioration or corrosion of equipment and, or parts, as well as other causes.
Reinforced plastic tarps, commonly called “Blue Roofs,” provide temporary protection for the roofs of homes and other buildings damaged during severe weather such as a hurricane or tornado.
However, when employees access roofs to install these tarps, they are at risk of falls, electrocutions, and other hazards.
OSHA has issued a new fact sheet containing steps that employers can follow to help keep workers safe.
OSHA inspectors found numerous hazards at an auto auction facility, after an accident that claimed the lives of five people.
The tragedy at Lynnway Auto Auction Inc. occurred on May 3, 2017, when five people died of their injuries after being struck by a sport utility vehicle.
The agency issued 16 citations to the company for motor vehicle hazards, blocked exit routes, violations of the hazard communication standard, and recordkeeping deficiencies.
Two serious injuries to workers – including an amputation of a left index finger -- brought OSHA investigators to an auto parts manufacturing facility in Buford, Georgia. The agency subsequently cited Elringklinger USA Inc. for exposing workers to electrical, fall, and noise hazards. Proposed penalties total $308,906.
OSHA inspected Elringklinger USA on May 2, 2017, after an employee performing maintenance on a screen print machine was injured.
OSHA has cited a Pittsburgh masonry contractor for exposing workers to serious dangers including fall and electrical hazards after an employee was fatally electrocuted in April.
The 21-year-old laborer was doing restoration work at a Pittsburgh residence when he was electrocuted.
A subsequent investigation of the man’s employer, Ski Masonry LLC, resulted in two willful and five serious citations for violations against the company.