Man dies after falling into a vat of chocolate.

On July 8th, Vincent Smith fell off a nine-foot-high platform while loading chunks of raw chocolate into a melting tank at Cocoa Services in Camden, NJ. After falling, he suffered a fatal blow to the head from the vat's agitator. Although coworkers reacted quickly and shut off the machine, it was too late to save Smith.

Cocoa Services rents the facility in Camden from Lyons & Sons, Inc. Cocoa Services mixes and melts raw chocolate for use by candy and food manufacturers. At the time of the accident, the chocolate vat, which was 8 feet deep, 14 feet long and 6 feet wide, was churning a batch of chocolate for Hershey's.
Could this have been prevented? OSHA requires that "fall protection must be provided at four feet in the general industry and six feet in construction." "Regardless of fall distance, fall protection must be provided when working over dangerous equipment."

Solution: a single point anchorage or a lifeline. These methods provide continuous fall protection to the worker as they move from safe access areas into fall hazard areas. These methods limit the fall and deceleration distance. See above picture.

See www.hysafe.com for more information.
Sources:
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/fallprotection/index.html
Solomon, Jesse. "Man Dies at Chocolate Factory." 9 July 2009. Web.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/09/new.jersey.chocolate.death/
Stamm, Dan, and Vince Lattanzio. "Man Dies After Falling into Vat of Chocolate." 8 July 2009. Web. http//www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Man-Dies-In-Tank-of-Chocolate.html/

Safety pays!

Interesting fact: A good safety program can save a company $4 to $6 for every $1 invested. This is because injuries and illnesses decline. Worker's compensation costs go down and medical costs decrease. OSHA violations can range anywhere from a warning to thousands of dollars in fines.

Another plus: A good safety (training) program gives your employees the confidence they need to work without fear of safety. Employee confidence provokes lower turnover and lower accident rates thus leading to better productivity and increased morale.

Sources: www.osha.gov/

http://www.hysafe.com/

Welcome!

Welcome to our new blog! We will do our best to inform you on news and events in the industry concerning worker safety.

About us: At Hy-Safe, we strive to be America's experts in turnkey fall protection. We provide fall protection solutions through innovative design, total dedication to customer service, and a complete range of fall protection equipment. We realize that worker safety goes beyond fall protection, but according to OSHA, falls are the leading cause of fatalities and catastrophes, in the construction industry, investigated by them. Can you believe that work place injuries cost our nation $170 billion per year?

We hope our blog catches your attention and encourages you to be safe!

www.hysafe.com

Sources:
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/construction/falls/mainpage.html