Accident: 170702484 - Three Possibly Exposed To Asbestos

Employees #1 through #3 were performing demolition activities on a building without being told that it might still contain asbestos. When this was discovered, the demolition work was stopped and building samples were taken. An abatement contractor was called in to finish the job. Employees #1 through #3 went for physicals and medical surveillance. The owner of the building failed to disclose the full situation to the contractor. No T8 violations were observed.

construction, demolition, building, asbestos removal

Accident: 930776 - Dies Of Myocardial Ischemia

Employee #1, an asbestos abatement worker, was assigned to move ACM debris weighing 25 to 40 lb, 10 ft in a 4-ft-high crawl space to the load out area. After one hour of performing this task, Employee #1, who was wearing a PAPR and coveralls, passed out. A coworker tried to help and called for assistance. Employee #1 was removed from the crawl space and attempts were made to revive him. CPR was administered and an ambulance was called. According to the preliminary autopsy, the cause of death was myocardial ischemia with contributing factors.

heart, construction, asbestos removal, confined space, ppe, unconsciousness, crawl space, cpr

Accident: 14332001 - Dies Of Asbestosis After 12 Years Of Exposure

In 1979, Employee #1 had an x-ray that showed a spot on his lung. A biopsy was performed and a part of one lung was removed. After recuperating for two months, the employee returned to work full-time. He worked until April 1991, when he became ill. Rescuers took him from work to the hospital. He died on July 15, 1991. Between 1979 and 1991 the employee continually complained of shortness of breath. X-rays showed continual fibrosis asbestosis.

asbestos removal, lung

Accident: 170049621 - Injured In 10 Ft Fall From Scaffold

At 8:25 a.m. on July 12, 1991, Employee #1, of Allwaste Asbestos, was on a 10 ft high scaffold platform, scraping asbestos from under a roof deck. The work was taking place inside a containment on a school asbestos removal job. The guardrails securing the scaffold platform had been removed so the scaffold could be moved under ductwork. Without the employer's knowledge, Employee #1 and three coworkers mounted the scaffold without lifelines, which was in violation of the company's safety rules. Employee #1 stepped off the 10 ft high scaffold platform from which he was working and fell to the floor. Employee #1 fractured his hip and shoulder. The employer was cited under T8CCR 1621(a), a general violation.

fall, scaffold, construction, fracture, hip, shoulder, work rules, lifeline, unguarded, asbestos removal

Accident: 953356 - Hospitalized For Exposure To Chlorine Dioxide

Centin Corporation was a contractor on site at Union Camp. On June 17, 1991, Centin employees, all spanish speaking, were removing asbestos insulation when a chlorine dioxide leak occurred. It appears that once the leak was detected, conflicting evacuation information was shouted to the employees. The employees were not using the escape respirators that Union Camp required. As a result, all eight Centin Corporation employees were hospitalized for approximately 2 weeks. No Union Camp employees were hospitalized.

construction, leak, asbestos removal, work rules, respirator, chlorine dioxide, overexposure, communication

Accident: 170161574 - Electric Shock - Contact With Energized Conductor

A 30-year-old asbestos removal worker was working on a 4000-volt power line in an underground vault. A qualified electrician had previously certified the line to be deenergized. The employee placed his knife on the coating on the deenergized line and received an electric shock, which knocked him back about 1.5 meters. The injured employee exited vault without assistance. He was hospitalized at a burn center for electrical burns on his right little finger and the inside of his left forearm. An investigation by the electric utility and lab tests on the line failed to reveal the cause of the electric shock.

electrical, electric shock, burn, elec utility work, undrgrd power line, asbestos removal, lockout, protective grounding, e ptd

Accident: 14508758 - On Ship Killed In Fall Over Guardrail To Deck

Employee #1 was working on a 4 ft stepladder removing asbestos cloth from the overhead of a ship. He had one foot on the ladder and one foot braced against a guardrail behind him. The guardrail was around a stairway opening from which the stairs had been removed. Either the cloth came loose or the guardrail gave way, and the force exerted by the employee pulling on the cloth caused him to fall backwards over the guardrail to the deck. Employee #1 died 10 days later during surgery for injuries sustained during the fall.

guardrail, ship, unstable position, fall, ladder, asbestos removal, work rules

Accident: 889790 - Injured In Fall From Ladder Jack Scaffold

Employee #1, an asbestos remover, was working from a ladder jack scaffold approximately 6 1/2 ft from the ground. The distance between the ladder on the left and the ladder on the right at the landing was approximately 10 ft. The platform was approximately 12 ft in length with two 12 in. wide scaffold boards. Employee #1 had been working on the scaffold without guardrails on all open sides. He fell from the platform and was hospitalized. According to the supervisor, Employee #1 was aware of ladder jack scaffold safety procedures.

construction, ladder jack scaffold, fall, guardrail, unguarded, work rules, fall protection, hip, contusion, asbestos removal

Accident: 515171 - One Killed And One Injured In Flash Fire

At 10:30 a.m. on December 8, 1990, the single window and the door of a 9 ft by 11 ft room were covered with polyvinyl because of asbestos tile removal. Containment barriers remained in place on all three floors of the building awaiting inspection. Employees #1 and #2 were in the room using gasoline, kerosene, and varsol to remove mastic (tile adhesive) from the floor when a flash fire occurred. Employee #1 died, and Employee #2 was hospitalized for multiple burns. Employee #2 stated that the portable quartz light that he held above his head in the closet started the fire.

construction, asbestos removal, gasoline, flammable liquid, fire, obstructed egress

Accident: 170176051 - Injured In Fall Through Catwalk Opening

At approximately 2:00 p.m. on July 20, 1990, Employee #1, of Allied Technology Group, Inc., was removing asbestos-containing material from the exterior of a large tank. He and his crew were working from a catwalk within containment. A section of the catwalk grating had been removed so that a 55-gallon drum of the waste material could be lowered by a winch. Employee #1 stepped on the section of removed grating and it skidded out due to the wet nature of the work. Employee #1 slipped and fell approximately 20 ft through the opening, landed on another catwalk. He was admitted to San Francisco General Hospital for treatment of his injuries.

unguarded fl opening, catwalk, fall, asbestos removal, construction, unstable surface, slippery surface, slip, work rules, fall protection

Accident: 14422521 - Dies 30 Years After Exposure To Asbestos

Employee #1 was exposed to asbestos between 1957 and 1967 while working on asbestos cement pipes. The pipes were drilled, lallied, and cut to make irrigation pipe fittings for the oil drilling industry's salt water irrigation system. The employee developed metastatic malignant mesiothelioma of the mesentery 33 years after his initial exposure to asbestos. He died.

overexposure, asbestos removal

Accident: 802223 - Two Suffer Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

At approximately 9:15 a.m. on March 19, 1990, Employees #1 and #2, who were employed by an asbestos abatement contractor, were preparing to remove asbestos from a ceiling. Wearing full face respirators, the employees went into the contained area and hooked up to an air hose equipped with a new air board from a compressed air system. As soon as the employees began to wet down the ceiling, they noticed a smell similar to burned hydraulic fluid inside their masks. The employees became nauseated and Employee #1 lost consciousness. They unhooked the lines and left the area. Both employees were taken to the hospital and released. The physician's diagnosis was carbon monoxide poisoning. Witness statements indicated that the compressor was visibly overheating and the carbon monoxide indicator was peaked although the alarm did not activate until after the employees' distress. [Incomplete record -- ERG]

construction, asbestos removal, compressed air, air line, nausea, unconsciousness, carbon monoxide, poisoning, alarm, toxic fumes

Accident: 893743 - Injured When Struck By Elevator

On the morning of March 16, 1989, Employee #1 and his foreman, both of whom worked for an asbestos removal company, were removing asbestos residue from a high pressure water wash within an elevator shaft that housed two passenger cars. They were on the roof of car #2 setting up a vacuum cleaner, drop light, and power cord. Car #2 had been placed in a hand-controlled inspection mode, while car #1 was left in service for building employees and the public. Car #2 was located at the fifth floor, and as the foreman started to move it down, Employee #1 noticed a particle of possible asbestos on the underside of car #1. He was reaching across to examine it when car #1 started down, catching his arm and striking his face and then the back of his head. He suffered severe lacerations and was hospitalized. Neither employee was wearing fall protection, nor were there guardrails atop either elevator car. From the location of the accident, the employees could have fallen approximately 40 to 50 ft to the bottom of the shaft.

struck by, roof, head, guardrail, construction, elevator, laceration, face, asbestos removal, work rules

Accident: 14273148 - Killed By Tumor Linked To Plant Asbestos

Employee #1 was a janitor at a paper mill from June 1959 to August 1974 (15 years), where he routinely swept around boilers that were, and still are, insulated by asbestos-containing material. Employee #1 was diagnosed as having mesothelioma, a disease characteristic of exposure to airborne asbestos. He died. In 1988, the mill spent nearly $800,000 in asbestos abatement and emergency spill cleanup jobs. The employer has adopted a very aggressive asbestos management program.

janitor, cleaning, toxic atmosphere, asbestos removal, lung, inhalation, dust, housekeeping, mesothelioma