Page 78 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - August/September 2017

78 List of Ways People Are Dying at Work

This List of Ways People

Are Dying at Work Will

Make Your Stomach

Churn

By Luke O'Neil

Be thankful you have a job. Be thankful you're
alive.

We are all going to die. If we're lucky, it will be
at home in our old age, surrounded by loved
ones, in a completely boring and unremarkable
fashion. But for some, death will be sudden,
horrifying, and violent. Last week in upstate
New York, a 23-year-old tree worker was killed
after being pulled into a wood chipper. It was his
first day on the job.
Today, roughly 13 people will die from
fatal injuries sustained at work. Within eight
hours, each of those deaths will be reported to conditions across all industries is of paramount • FY 2012,3/17/2012,3/15/2012, "Kelley
the Occupational Safety and Health consideration, both for government agencies and Bean Company Inc., Brush, CO 80723",
Administration (OSHA) of the U.S. Department the employers in question. It's also a reminder to Worker was engulfed after standing on a
of Labor, the agency charged with overseeing all of us how tenuous life can be—and just how pile of beans at a bean plant.
worker-related fatalities and injuries, and many bizarre and terrifying ways there are to • FY 2012,3/24/2012,2/14/2012, "Richard
improving safety standards on jobs through die. Cherish every moment, even the moments at Knight, White Swan, WA 98952", Worker
legislation, like a recent initiative that tasked the a job you might hate. was struck and killed by a large alfalfa
coal industry with improving conditions for The following entries, reprinted bale.
miners. verbatim from the OSHA files (bold emphasis is • FY 2012,3/31/2012,2/15/2012, "Mad River
If 13 deaths a day sounds bad, it's ours), consist of the date of the report (first), the Glen Ski Area, Waitsfield, VT", A ski
actually a vast improvement on how things used date of the incident in question (second), the instructor at a ski resort died after becoming
to be. Since 1970, workplace fatality rates have location, and what transpired. stuck in a wall opening.
• FY 2012,4/21/2012,4/14/2012, "Knox Swan
dropped over 66 percent (during the same
period, U.S. employment has nearly doubled). • FY 2011,10/09/10,10/01/10, "Nutri-Ject, & Dog LLC, North Barrington, IL 60010",
Just over 40 years ago, 14,000 workers were Hudson, IA 50643", Worker with head and "Worker patrolling a residential community
killed on the job each year, according to OSHA. upper torso inside a tanker truck loaded with pond while inside a kayak was attacked by
Safety standards have increased 6000 pounds of sludge, fell into the tanker. swans, causing him to fall in the water and
significantly since then. As a result, worker • FY 2010,04/10/10,04/09/10, "The Tiger and drown.
deaths trend downward almost every year—in Elephant Encounter, Wilkes Barre, PA • FY 2012,5/19/2012,5/16/2012, "Missouri
1992, for example, there were 6,217 deaths, 18704", Worker was kicked by an elephant. American Water, Joplin, MO 64804",
compared to 4,821 in 2014. But the workplace • FY 2011,10/30/10,10/24/10," Ayalaz Worker cutting pipe with a pipe saw died
can still be fraught with danger. That's Agriculture Services FLC #12004, when the saw kicked back, striking the
particularly true in occupations like construction Kettleman City, CA 93239", Worker was worker in the throat.
(899 deaths in 2014); transportation and crushed when tractor he was driving, pulling • FY 2012,6/30/2012,6/22/2012, "Village of
warehousing (766); and agriculture, forestry, a bin dumper full of pomegranates, fell Central City - Public Works Department,
and fishing and hunting (584). onto its side. Worker was possibly trying to Central City, IL 62801", Worker was killed
OSHA has steadily compiled a grim make a U-turn while going too fast. when a burning tree limb fell on his head.
catalogue of death over the years. The most • FY 2012,10/1/2011,9/20/2011, "Al and • FY 2012,8/4/2012,7/30/2012, "Bimbo
frequent causes of death are transportation John, Inc., T/A Glen Rock Hams, Paterson, Bakery, Galt, CA 95632", Worker was
incidents (car crashes, getting run over by a NJ 07503", Worker cleaning a meat mixer crushed by a rack of baked goods.
truck), followed by falls (through manholes, into died when he fell into the machine. • FY 2012,8/25/2012,8/22/2012, "David
trenches), exposure to harmful substances, and • FY 2012,11/26/2011,11/3/2011, "Lykes Girard Vineyard, Placerville, CA 95667",
being struck by large objects. While those Bros., Inc., Okeechobee, FL 34974", Worker Worker at a vineyard was crushed in a wine
generic descriptions paint enough of a terrible riding a horse while performing routine press.
picture, it's actually the specificity of the work at a ranch fell off and was killed when • FY 2010,10/30/09,10/26/09, "Val-O-Mo
incidents on file that are truly disturbing. The the horse stepped on his torso and face. Farm, Inc., Elmwood, WI 54740", "Worker
anonymizing language—the repetition of • FY 2012,1/21/2012,12/12/2011, "Oilfield was operating a skid-steer cleaning out a
"worker was killed"—becomes a sort of Service & Supply Company Inc., Laurel, dairy cattle barn near an outdoor manure
hypnotic mantra when you read enough of them MS 39443", Worker was removing a ladder slurry pit. The skid-steer and the worker fell
in a row. stuck in mud and briars. The ladder flew up off the end of the push-off platform into the
We combed through hundreds of worker and hit the worker on the back, fatally manure slurry pit, trapping the worker in the
death reports in recent years (hat tip to Jon injuring the worker. vehicle. Worker died of suffocation due to
Hendren for the idea), which you can do • FY 2012,2/18/2012,2/9/2012, "Omaha inhalation of manure.
yourself in a searchable chart here or in raw Refinishing, Council Bluffs, IA 51501", • FY 2013,2/23/2013,1/14/2013, "Kaba Ilco
documents here, and the results create Worker who was overcome by vapors while Corporation, Forsyth, NC 27009", Worker
something like a brutal, absurdist poetry of refinishing a bathtub, died from crushed and killed when a cart carrying
catastrophe; a flash fiction of terror. asphyxiation. 2,000 pounds of zinc tipped over on top of
But of course, it's all real. These were • FY 2012,2/25/2012,2/17/2012, "US Airways him.
real people with real families. Group Inc., Phoenix, AZ 85034", Worker
The list below is further evidence that we was crushed between two vertically (Continued on Page 79)
must be vigilant in ensuring that worker moving conveyor belts.