Today we noted Internet newspaper reports of three recent fatalities at treatment plants in Pennsylvania. Nothing could present a more compelling message about the importance of safety than three such events in one state, so close together in time.
On August 19, the ABC-TV network affiliate in Philadelphia reported that an employee at the Tri-Community Sewer Authority treatment plant in Robinson died after he apparently drove a riding lawn mower into a wastewater pond. The county coroner said the man, 64-year-old Joseph Sisitki of Bolivar, apparently drowned. Robinson is about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh.
On July 30, the Associated Press reported that Sewickley wastewater treatment plant employee Jack Hogan, 31, died while working in a 30-foot hole. "Hogan was working in the hole and fell back into it as he was trying to climb out," the AP reported. The county medical examiner ruled that Hogan died of injuries from the fall and not from toxic gas.
However, in a classic case of misguided attempt to rescue a co-worker from a possibly confined space, three other people who tried to get Hogan out were overcome by an unknown gas and had go to the hospital. They recovered. Hogan had been on the job about two months and left a wife and an 8-week-old child. Sewickley is about 10 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
Finally, on August 4, construction worker Cody Fyock, 23, was killed at the North Fork Creek Water Treatment Plant when a steel forming wall collapsed and crushed him. Police initially ruled the death an accident, but an investigation was ongoing.
In light of these events, it is worth asking: Are your safety programs up to date? And are your safety rules being enforced?
