Death at Calaveras Lake
Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 395
For the second time this year, someone working on the new CPS Energy coal plant on Calaveras Lake fell to their death.
In January, a scaffolding builder with Calaveras Power Partners, died in an accident while working at the construction site. He was working early in the morning so his fall wasn’t seen or heard by other employees. It is unknown whether or not the fall killed him immediately.
Last week, another employee died of head injuries after falling about 30 feet while building a catwalk at the JK Spruce II site. Coworkers told police that he stepped onto an unsecured portion of the walkway and it tipped causing him to lose his balance and fall. The police incident report states that he was wearing a safety harness but did not secure it to anything.
Jeff Coyle, spokesmen for the contractor, said that they have a “100 percent fall protection policy,” which requires employees working at elevated heights to be secured with two harnesses.
“Our employees are the heart and soul of this project, and it is our highest priority to ensure that every one of them returns home safely to their families at the end of each work day.”
OSHA recently revealed the preliminary top 10 most frequent workplace safety violations for 2009. The report showed that the number of top 10 violations has increased almost 30 percent over the same time period in 2008. The top 10 violations are:
- 1. Scaffolding – 9,093 violations: Scaffold accidents most often result from the planking or support giving way, or from the employee slipping or being struck by a falling object.
- 2. Fall Protection – 6,771 violations: Any time a worker is at a height of four feet or more, the worker is at risk and needs to be protected.
- 3. Hazard Communication – 6,378 violations: Chemical manufacturers and importers are required to evaluate the hazards of the chemicals they produce or import and prepare labels and safety data sheets to convey the hazard information to their downstream customers.
- 4. Respiratory Protection – 3,803 violations: These hazards can cause cancer, lung impairment, other diseases, or death.
- 5. Lockout-Tag – 3,321 violations: “Lockout-Tag out” refers to the specific practices and procedures to safeguard employees from the unexpected start up of machinery and equipment, or the release of hazardous energy during service or maintenance activities.
- 6. Electrical (Wiring) – 3,079 violations
- 7. Ladders – 3,072 violations: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) lists falls as one of the leading causes of traumatic occupational death, accounting for 8 percent of all occupational fatalities from trauma.
- 8. Powered Industrial Trucks – 2,993 violations: Each year, tens of thousands of injuries related to powered industrial trucks, or forklifts, occur in U.S. workplaces.
- 9. Electrical (General) – 2.556 violations
- 10. Machine Guarding – 2,364 violations: When the operation of a machine or accidental contact injures the operator or others in the vicinity, the hazards must be eliminated or controlled.
Two deaths at this site in less than a year is unacceptable. OSHA needs to investigate to ensure the safety of all of the employees working at this location.