Mechanic killed

Heavy Equipment have many kinds.
 
Industrial deaths are always very difficult to comprehend since in a high percentage of cases, they are preventable if we just stop, assess the risks, and follow procedures. I investigated and litigated 2 industrial deaths in my time. The first was a death from a fall of over 50 ft.through a roof hitting some steel substructure on the way down. This fall protection harness was in the truck and neither the worker nor his supervisor put theirs on because they were going to be just doing a “quick look-see” on the condition of the roof they were going to repair. I was told by the supervisor it took almost 45 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. He died shortly before the ambulance arrived. The supervisor resigned shortly after the completion of the litigation and moved away. The second was a worker who refused to follow instructions on how to drain a steam line. Despite being told to stop all activities by his supervisor until he could talk him through the steps, the worker proceeded to jump into the steam valve pit and to crack open the line drain. When 3000lbs of superheated steam hit that valve, it blew a hole about 30-40 long by 6 feet deep.Somehow the worker managed to crawl out of that steam valve pit alive (he went in before the safety rep could rig his retrieval harness) but died a few days later in the burn unit of a hospital in Seattle. The irony of this case was we had fired the worker twice for violating safety rules and through arbitration had to reinstate him.

I hope this incident was truly an accident and there was no culpability by the worker, his/her supervisor or others. Otherwise, they will carry the grief of knowing they contributed to the death of a co-worker for the rest of their lives, which is a very heavy burden for anyone.
 
[mention]Jumpmaster [/mention] did the defendants “win” in your matters?
 
Customer of mine is a paving company. Their lead mechanic was the only decent human there. Awesome mechanic. Better guy. Saw him the day before his accident. He took counterweights off a machine then moved it without counterweights on. One of the goriest things I've ever heard, and will spare the details on the rest.

Was in a hurry and didn't have help. Cut corners and it cost him his life. Being in a hurry is never worth that cost.
 
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