Daily Roundup, Friday, July 16

• ‘Something Needs to Be Done’: Massey Mine Survivor Testifies Before Congress

“I’m here to speak for my 29 brothers who did not make it out,” a coal miner told the committee. “This tragedy never should have happened in America today. Something needs to be done to stop outlaw coal companies who blatantly disregard the laws,” he continued. “Many things were wrong at Upper Big Branch, such as low air constantly.”

• Employer Groups Criticize Mine-Safety Bill

Employer groups criticized a mine-safety bill Tuesday that would strengthen civil and criminal penalties for companies, arguing that the bill would lead to higher costs, increased litigation and actually hinder safety improvements at the nation’s mines.

• Experts: Coke plants full of dangers, can be safe

Turning coal into coke, a raw material used in steelmaking, is a complicated and dangerous process, as evidenced by the explosion Wednesday that injured 20 people at the country’s largest coke plant. But those familiar with the industry say it can be done safely.

• Bills targeting oil industry move forward in House committees

Far-reaching legislation that would impose new environmental safeguards on offshore drilling, repeal oil-industry-friendly provisions of energy policy and hit producers with a new tax to fund conservation programs gained ground in Congress on Thursday.

• Boston Steam Pipe Burst—No Such Thing as “Safe” Asbestos Level

On Wednesday night a steam pipe burst on Harrison Avenue in Boston, spewing asbestos into the air and covering roads and parked cars. According to news reports, no one was hurt, which is not surprising. Asbestosis, mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases caused by breathing airborne asbestos fibers typically take many years to develop.

• OSHA Cites/Fines Pharma Company, Alleges Willful And Serious Violations

OSHA has proposed a total of $357,300 in fines against UCB Manufacturing Inc. for alleged willful and serious violations at its Rochester, New York, pharmaceutical manufacturing plant. The citations chiefly concern the company’s failure to address hazards for workers whose duties involve exposure to methylene chloride, a potential carcinogen.

• OSHA Cites Danbury, Conn., Hospital for Workplace Violence Safeguards

Danbury Hospital has been cited for failing to provide employees with adequate safeguards against workplace violence. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration began investigating in January 2010 after workers complained and found several instances, within the last 18 months, in which employees in the hospital’s psychiatric ward, emergency ward and general medical floors were injured by violent patients.

• OSHA fines Kenton Iron Products $214,500 in penalties for 29 safety and health violations

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Kenton Iron Products LLC with $214,500 in proposed penalties for 29 alleged serious, willful, and repeat safety and health violations for unsafe working conditions at the company’s iron casting facility in Kenton, Ohio.

• OSHA investigates N. Sioux sewer death

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration is investigating the death of a Sioux City, Iowa, man who was overcome by fumes along with another worker in a North Sioux City sewer Saturday.

• One worker injured at Rock Fest in coma

One of the three workers injured in an accident at Rock Fest Thursday was in an induced coma Thursday night. The three were working on the festival grounds at about 8:30 a.m. when the machine that had hoisted them 25 feet into the air to hang an advertising banner on one side of the stage tipped over, causing them to fall to the ground.

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Daily Roundup, Thursday, July 15

• Report: Massey workers told to disarm safety monitor in doomed mine

An electrician at a Massey coal mine was instructed to dismantle a methane sensor two months before an explosion there killed 29 workers.

• Drilling Company Says It Will List Hazardous Chemicals Used in Fracking

One of the largest gas drillers in the Marcellus Shale has announced that it will disclose the chemicals it uses in its Pennsylvania wells.

• Group to team up with U.S. agency on worker safety

An Austin-based workers advocacy group says a new collaboration with the federal Labor Department will strengthen the group’s efforts to make the construction industry safer and to recover back wages for workers.

• Dangers ‘part of job,’ Clairton workers say

Workers at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Works have come to terms with the inherent dangers of their jobs. But they had a hard time Wednesday dealing with a lack of information.

• U.S. Steel Explosion Hurts 20

An explosion at a U.S. Steel Corp. plant injured 20 workers, spewing steel, bricks and debris over a 100- square-yard area, in the latest U.S. manufacturing accident.

• Contractor lacked proper permits in construction collapse

The dramatic accident Tuesday that left a construction worker buried alive in the backyard of a $2.5 million Seacliff, Calif., home could have been prevented.

• Reza shooting rampage illustrates need for survival and evasion training

A shooting spree at the Emcore Corporation facility, on July 12, 2010 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that left three people dead and injured two has focused attention on the need for training in tactics to survive and evade these kinds of attacks in the workplace. Several New Mexico firms currently provide training of this kind to employees.

• OSHA proposes $279,000 in fines against American Seafoods International

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited American Seafoods International LLC for 15 alleged willful and serious violations of safety and health standards at its New Bedford, Mass., processing facility. The seafood company faces a total of $279,000 in proposed fines, chiefly for deficiencies in its process safety management program.

• Rexnord issued $130,500 in citations by OSHA

West Milwaukee-based Rexnord Industries LLC has received OSHA citations totaling $130,500 in proposed penalties in connection with an industrial accident in which a worker lost her arm.

• OSHA Slams Patio Door Maker

OSHA has cited Krestmark Industries LP, a manufacturer of vinyl and aluminum windows and patio doors, with one alleged willful and 10 alleged serious violations following a safety and health inspection at the company’s worksite in Dallas. Penalties total $129,500.

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Daily Roundup, Wednesday, July 14

• House panel votes to block new BP leases

The House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday voted to block BP from receiving new offshore oil-and-gas leases or drilling permits.

• Coast Guard Photos Show Spill Workers Without Protective Gear

There’s something missing in the Coast Guard’s latest PR photos of oil spill cleanup workers: protective gear.

• Michaels’ Congressional Testimony Points to Discrepancies between OSHA and EPA Fines and Criminal Penalties

Members of Congress are working to link together key provisions of the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAW Act, HR 2067), introduced last year, to mining safety and health provisions of the Mine Safety and Health Act of 2010 bill, HR 5663. The Miner Safety and Health Act would amend the OSH Act to allow for higher fines, stiffer criminal penalties and greater protection for whistleblowers in cases involving workplace safety.

• Business groups slam OSHA expansion in Dems’ mine safety bill

The House Education and Labor Committee is meeting Tuesday afternoon to examine newly introduced legislation designed to bolster protections for the nation’s miners. But the most controversial provision of the proposal has nothing to do with mines.

• Massey Energy’s Bogus Employee Safety Survey

After yesterday’s hearing on new mine and workplace safety legislation in the House – legislation necessary because of the negligence of Don Blankenship’s Massey Energy in the deaths of 29 miners earlier this year – Massey Energy’s press office made a funny.

• Doctors often don’t report impaired colleagues

One out of three doctors didn’t report colleagues they believed were “impaired or incompetent” to authorities, a survey released today found. Slightly more — 36 percent — didn’t completely agree that it was their responsibility to report these colleagues in every case.

• OSHA Cites Window Manufacturer for Safety Violations

Alleged exposure to noise levels above 85 decibels led the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to cite Krestmark Industries with one willful and 10 serious violations at a Dallas worksite.

• They May Have Died From Silo Gases

Mi-OSHA investigators are now looking into the death of two teenagers at a farm in Barry County, Mich. They died from something that was waiting inside a silo they were cleaning at the Yankee Springs Dairy Farm late on Monday. There is speculation that they might have been victimized by something called “silo gas.”

• Firefighters Lacked Protective Gear In Explosion

The four firefighters injured in an apparent gas explosion at a Sacramento home last week were not wearing crucial protective gear, the Sacramento Fire Department confirmed.

• Explosion at Pittsburgh-area steel plant hurts 15

An oven at a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh exploded Wednesday, injuring 15 workers, at least two critically, and causing a fire that burned for hours afterward, emergency officials said.

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Daily Roundup, Tuesday, July 13

• BP’s Record, a History of Boldness and Blunders

Despite a catalog of crises and near misses in recent years, BP has been chronically unable or unwilling to learn from its mistakes, an examination of its record shows.

• Waxman Demands Answers on Tainted Trailers for BP Spill Cleanup Workers

It’s hard being an oil spill cleanup worker. After a long day in the blistering sun, battling fumes and heat exhaustion, you just want to go home and relax. Unfortunately, your temporary housing unit may also be saturated with toxic chemicals.

• New Agency Head Vows Tougher Scrutiny of Oil and Gas Industry

The new head of the federal agency that oversees offshore drilling said he is not afraid to seek fines or jail time for companies and executives who break the law.

• After Crises, Companies Continue to Place Public and Workers at Risk

In the wake of high-profile regulatory failures, including the worst mine disaster in recent history, the companies responsible continue to run afoul of laws and regulations meant to protect public health and worker safety.

• House panel to consider new mine safety law

Four years after triple tragedies in Kentucky and West Virginia prompted sweeping mine safety changes, a House panel Tuesday afternoon will consider new reforms in response to April’s Upper Big Branch Mine disaster.

• Home builders sue EPA over lead paint rule

Builders are challenging a new federal rule that requires contractors be certfied in lead-safe practices if renovating pre-1978 homes.

• Danger on the Hill

The Capitol and other congressional buildings are rife with fire traps and other pervasive problems of age and dangerous design, with an estimated 6,300 safety hazards lurking on Capitol Hill this Congress.

• OSHA Crackdown on USPS Continues; Maryland Facility Fined $272K

OSHA has cited the U.S. Postal Service for workplace safety violations related to electrical hazards found at its Processing and Distribution Center in Capitol Heights, Md.

• OSHA Cites Ohio Steel Manufacturing Facility

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Mentor, Ohio-based RKI, which operates the Roll-Kraft steel manufacturing facility, with 12 alleged safety violations.

• Diver claims injuries when crane capsized

A commercial diver has filed suit against his employer after a crane allegedly crashed onto his worksite.

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Daily Roundup, Monday, July 12

• Lifesaving drugs may be killing health workers

Nurses, pharmacists and others who handle chemo drugs have been getting sick. Despite multiple studies that indicate the drugs actually may cause cancers, the federal government doesn’t require safeguards on the job.

• U.S. lags behind on worker safeguards

In the United States, there’s a lot of discussion about the difficulties of requiring hospitals and clinics to prove they are not contaminating their workers with toxic drugs. But several other countries already are requiring safeguards.

• Attorney General hints BP’s partners may face criminal investigation

Companies partnered with BP in developing the crippled Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico could possibly also be targeted in the sweeping criminal investigation under way in Washington, Eric Holder, the US Attorney General, will say this morning.

• BP Defends Record As ‘Safe And Reliable’ Despite Hundreds Of Egregious Violations

Despite a clear public record to the contrary, BP is continuing its public relations effort to define the blowout that has been spewing oil into the Gulf for nearly three months as an isolated departure from a record of safe and sound practices.

• Beware of oil-spill scams

Where there’s a disaster, there are scams and schemes. So: Before paying for training to work for an oil-spill cleanup company, make sure you need it. The Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation said there should be no charge to apply or train for a job. People with questions about available oil spill response and recovery jobs can call (877) 362-5034 or visit http://www.floridagulfrecoveryjobs.com.

• A diamond in the rough: The NLRA’s 75th anniversary

Last week, as we celebrated the 234th anniversary of our nation’s birth, we marked another significant date in our country’s history — the 75th birthday of the National Labor Relations Act.

• Employers may face higher penalties

Nevada lawmakers and federal lawmakers are considering whether to enhance workplace safety by raising the penalties for employers who make safety a low priority.

• OSHA Cites Enbridge Texas Facility Following Worker Fatality

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Enbridge G&P for two alleged willful and five alleged serious violations following a chemical release at its Bryans Mill gas-treating plant in Douglasville, Texas. One person died from the release of hydrogen sulfide.

• OSHA fines victim of Branford, Conn., power line accident

All three of them are alive; that’s what’s most important. Billy Twyford kept that in mind when he received a citation last week, along with a $6,600 fine, from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration for the Jan. 7 electrical accident in which he and two men working for him were badly shocked by a 13,200-volt bolt of electricity.

• 2009 DEATH AT MGM GRAND: Family remembers worker as officials close files on fatal fall

That night — May 20, 2009 — Vicente Rodriguez fell 37 feet to his death on the floor of the Hollywood Theater, inside the MGM Grand. He died trying to do the job of a high rigger, risky work for which he had received little training.

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Daily Roundup, Friday, July 9

• Thousands of Abandoned Wells in the Gulf of Mexico Escape Monitoring

More than 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells pervade the Gulf of Mexico, but neither industry nor government has checked the wells for leaks, an Associated Press investigation has found.

• New BP Data Show 20% of Gulf Spill Responders Exposed to Chemical That Sickened Valdez Workers

In an under-the-radar release of new test results for its Gulf of Mexico oil spill workers, BP PLC is reporting potentially hazardous exposures to a now-discontinued dispersant chemical — a substance blamed for contributing to chronic health problems after the Exxon Valdez cleanup — among more than 20 percent of offshore responders.

• Is OSHA on the job in the Gulf?

Within hours of its launch, the online petition at BPMakesMeSick.Com demanding that BP “allow every clean-up worker who wants to wear respiratory protective equipment to do so” had already racked up more than 16000 signers and was continuing to swell its ranks at a pretty fast clip, courtesy of, among other things, viral Facebook and Twitter campaigns.

• OSHA: Some oil spill workers may be getting deficient training

Federal officials are warning that some prospective oil spill cleanup workers may be getting deficient training, even as confusion appears to persist on how much training is required for some cleanup jobs.

• Domestic Workers in New York Win First-Ever Job Protections

The law guarantees domestic workers time-and-half pay for more than 40 hours and a day off each week, along with protection under worker compensation and anti-discrimination law and access to unemployment insurance.

• OSHA sites offers quick access to whistleblower protection information

On July 7, OSHA unveils a dedicated Web address for its whistleblower protection program – http://www.whistleblowers.gov. The site is designed to provide workers, employers, and the public with easily accessible information about the 18 federal whistleblower protection statutes that OSHA currently administers.

• Heat Challenges East Coast Crews

As a record-breaking heat wave grips the East Coast, firefighters and emergency medical service providers at some agencies are taxed to the limit. Triple-digit highs were recorded from Charlotte, N.C. to New York this week, where members of FDNY’s EMS crews were called upon at near record levels.

• Minor explosion at business near Moss Bluff, La.

At approximately 10:00 on Thursday morning, the Louisiana State Police responded to an explosion at Louisiana Tank, located off Highway 3059, between Moss Bluff and LeBleu Settlement.

• OSHA cites Loup Valley Alfalfa of Burwell, Neb., for violations of OSH Act

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Loup Valley Alfalfa Inc. of Burwell for alleged violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, following a December 2009 inspection of the grain handling facility.

• Welder critically injured in Denver-area explosion

A welder working in Englewood has been critically injured after vapors inside a fuel tank exploded.

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Daily Roundup, Thursday, July 8

• OSHA: Most Gulf Workers Sick from Heat, Not Oil and Chemical Exposures

Hundreds of workers in the Gulf Coast cleaning up BP’s oil disaster have reported symptoms of nausea, vomiting, nose bleeds, and headaches, but those “almost all have been heat related,” according to Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab.

• Out of the gushing oil, the scammers swirl

Scroll through Craigslist in cities along the Florida Panhandle and in Alabama, and dozens of ads appear with offers for expensive training guaranteed to net jobs cleaning up oil. Not all the jobs are real. Not all the training is legitimate.

• OSHA fears spill workers getting poor training

Federal regulators are investigating complaints that several companies are providing inadequate training to supervisors of Gulf cleanup workers.

• WDSU Observes Grand Isle Workers Taking Long, Frequent Breaks

Crews cleaning oil off Louisiana’s beaches spend more time on breaks than actually working, the WDSU I-Team has learned.

• Massey accuses mine safety agency of undermining investigation into deadly blast

Massey Energy on Thursday charged federal mine safety officials with undermining the investigation into a deadly explosion in West Virginia earlier this year.

• Increase in Near-Collisions Prompts Scrutiny of Air Traffic Controllers

An air traffic control center in the Washington D.C. area is under scrutiny after making its 22nd potentially dangerous mistake last week.

• Government Recycling Program Poisoned Us, Prison Employees Say

In 1994, nobody at the Marianna Correctional Institution in Florida thought much about the safety of a new electronics recycling program.

• Too Many Tattoo Parlors, Too Few Health Standards

Faced with an abundance of tattoo parlors, the Fullerton City Council this week voted to put some restrictions on where new ones can open. However, the big question remaining is whether the minimal health standards required of the shops are adequate.

• WalMart: ‘Crowd Trampling’ Not an Occupational Hazard of Doorbuster Sales

Wal-Mart is digging in its heels because it doesn’t want the federal government to define crowd trampling as an occupational hazard that employers are responsible for mitigating.

• Investigation under way into fatal roof collapse at Fremont, Ohio, food plant

An investigator from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was back Thursday at a local food processing plant where the roof collapsed Wednesday, killing one worker and injuring three others.

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Daily Roundup, Wednesday, July 7

• What You Need to Know About the Possible Health Risks of the Gulf Oil Spill

It has been almost three months since the oil spill in the gulf. However, there has been little attention given to the health effects of exposure to the various components present in the spill or the chemical used to disperse the oil.

• US Department of Labor files worker safety complaint against USPS

The U.S. Department of Labor’s solicitor today filed a complaint against the U.S. Postal Service for electrical work safety violations. The complaint, which asks the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to order USPS to correct electrical violations at 350 facilities, marks the first time the department has sought enterprise-wide relief as a remedy.

• Fireworks Company Has History of Accidents

The company responsible for the fireworks display that injured 11 people in Palmyra, Pa., on Sunday night has a history of similar accidents.

• Safety Officials Urge Inspection of Stadium Lights at Risk of Crashing to the Ground

Government safety regulators have announced a recall of stadium light poles, after finding that 11 cracked and crashed at stadiums and school gymnasiums over the past decade.

• Sharp Edge: One Man’s Quest To Improve Saw Safety

Table saws are by far the most dangerous tools used by woodworkers and do-it-yourself enthusiasts. Every year around the U.S., more than 3,000 people cut off their fingers or thumbs in table saw accidents, according to data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

• Wal-Mart Fighting $7,000 Fine in Trampling Case

Wal-Mart Stores has spent a year and more than a million dollars in legal fees battling a $7,000 fine that federal safety officials assessed after shoppers trampled a Wal-Mart employee to death at a store on Long Island on the day after Thanksgiving in 2008.

• Imperial Sugar Settles OSHA Citations

Imperial Sugar Company announced that it reached a settlement with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) regarding OSHA citations at its Port Wentworth, Georgia and Gramercy, Louisiana facilities.

• PNM fined record $371,000 for gas leak

The state Public Regulation Commission (PRC) Tuesday voted unanimously to fine the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) $371,000 for a 2008 incident in which the company failed for two months in 2008 to repair a potentially explosive gas leak in Albuquerque, or even to warn the public of the resulting hazard at the busy intersection of Montgomery Blvd. and Carlisle Blvd.

• 64 local firms are flagged on safety

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has warned 64 companies in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam, N.Y., counties that their employees are being injured at a rate “considerably higher” than national averages.

• Ex-employee of Pacifica trash hauler sues for wrongful termination

On June 29, exactly one year to the day he was pink-slipped by Coastside Scavenger, former operations manager Jose Castellanos filed a lawsuit alleging the trash hauler and recycling company fired him in retaliation for his whistle-blowing reputation within the company and the fact that his sons, also former Coastside Scavenger employees, had complained about unlawful business practices.

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Daily Roundup, Tuesday, July 6

• Two Weeks Later, New Safety Training for Gulf Workers Has Yet to Begin

On June 18, David Michaels, director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, told us that his agency was working with BP to improve safety training for offshore cleanup workers who may be exposed to crude oil and dispersants.

• BP’s Toxic Chemical Poisoning: Enough is Enough!

The BP spill is the perfect opportunity to see and understand how toxic chemical poisoning leads health problems that are either dismissed or totally ignored to reduce the financial losses of responsible parties.

• Throw out BP plea deal, victims tell feds

Various victims’ attorneys have asked the U.S. Department of Justice to revoke the terms of a 2007 plea deal BP reached as part of a criminal prosecution of the deadly Texas City accident.

• Hare helps introduce landmark mine and workplace safety legislation

Congressman Phil Hare (D-IL) today helped introduce the Mine Safety and Health Act of 2010, legislation that would modernize worker protections and provide the federal government stronger tools to ensure that mine operators with troubling safety records either improve working conditions or face stiff penalties, including the possibility of closure.

• Mine Safety Legislation Is A Start

As bad a year it has been for mine operators, imagine how bad it’s been for the workers themselves.

• Good intentions won’t protect workers

Over the past two weeks, Austin City Council members have been asked to pass an ordinance mandating water and rest breaks for construction crews.

• Ill ex-prison employees blame US gov. program

When former prison worker Freda Cobb developed sores on her arms, legs and back in 1997, she didn’t connect them to an inmate work program that recycles computers and other electronic goods at the penal institution in the Florida Panhandle.

• Execs, workers disagree on level of construction safety

Twenty-five months after CityCenter construction workers walked off the job to protest workplace fatalities and safety conditions there, researchers have confirmed what the Sun reported at the time: Crowded work sites, accelerated deadlines and other problems had combined to create an unsafe workplace.

• Getting a handle on OSHA’s fall protection standard

For years, general industry employers have sought guidance on OSHA’s fall protection standard, Subpart D, “Walking-Working Surfaces.” The standard doesn’t provide very much detail and very little in the way of clear requirements. But that is all about to change.

• Worker Dies After Accident At LM Wind Power Facility

A worker at the Grand Forks, N.D., regional office of LM Wind Power Group died from injuries he suffered after being crushed between heavy machinery, the Grand Forks Herald is reporting.

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Daily Roundup, Friday, July 2

• OSHA: Most Recovery Workers Don’t Need Respirators; Dispersants Not a Big Problem

The government command for the BP oil disaster announced last night its “interim guidance” for recovery worker health and safety, including the (limited) use of respirators.

• Twin BP Disasters Complicate Push for Safety

When federal officials fined BP PLC a record $87 million last year for more than 700 individual safety violations at its Texas City refinery, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis billed the move as a bold deterrent against hazardous workplace conditions.

• Health concerns emerge over BP oil spill

Seventy-three days after the Gulf Coast oil crisis began, people are being advised to avoid some coastal areas affected by the BP oil spill. Also, there are concerns over the health and safety of workers involved in clean-up efforts.

• BP’s Atlantis: Oil Giant To Be Sued Over Safety Of Another Deepwater Rig

Watchdog group Food & Water Watch formally gave notice Thursday of its intent to sue BP along with the federal government for violating a slew of safety laws governing its Atlantis oil and gas platform.

• House Dems unveil mine safety bill

Sponsored by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the chairman of the labor panel, the bill would make it easier for workers to complain about unsafe conditions; grant mine safety regulators subpoena power when conducting investigations; hike penalties for safety violations; and empower federal regulators to close unsafe mines more easily.

• Senate Dems hold out for bipartisan mine safety bill

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, is holding out on introducing a mine safety bill in order to rally the support of Republicans on the panel, Harkin’s office said this week.

• Nick Rahall: Congress’s Drilling Watchdog

April was one of the deadliest months in decades for America’s plumbing of its natural resources, and in the eyes of Rahall, the chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, much of the human and environmental toll was tragically preventable.

• Four Massey Supervisors Charged in Probe of 2006 Deaths

Federal prosecutors have charged four Massey Energy Co. foremen with criminal violations of federal mine safety laws, ending an investigation that began four years ago when a coal mine fire killed two West Virginians at the company’s Aracoma Alma No. 1 mine.

• Worker crushed at LM Wind Power plant in Grand Forks

A 42-year-old man working at the LM Wind Power facility in Grand Forks, Minn., died Thursday morning from injuries he suffered when he was crushed between two pieces of heavy machinery.

• Fair worker can’t remember accident

He was assigned to work as a gatekeeper at the Starship 2000 ride, but shortly after 2:15 p.m., he walked over to the Wacky Worm ride, where he apparently removed a piece of fencing, stepped inside the ride enclosure, replaced the fencing and then stepped over some bracing to walk over the tracks of the ride. He then stood on the tracks with his back to the oncoming cars and a soft drink can in his hands, according to a witness.

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