On June 14, 2008, a 54-year-old employee for the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation in North Carolina died from injuries sustained in a work accident. The man, a maintenance and operations assistant, is believed to have fallen from a ladder and hit his head in a storeroom.

The man was taken to Carolinas Medical Center where he underwent surgery after his on-the-job accident. He later died.

Source: April Bethea, “Park and Rec employee dies,” Charlotte Observer, June 17, 2008.

On June 10, 2008, a 59-year-old Cherokee County, South Carolina employee was driving a garbage truck in Gaffney, South Carolina when a flat bed truck carrying tree limbs passed his car. While passing, a tree limb fell off and hit the man in the head through the open driver’s side window.

The man was killed in the on-the-job accident. The impact of the tree limb caused the garbage to run off the road and overturn. Two other workers in the truck were not injured.

Source: “Garbage truck driver killed by tree limp,” Charlotte Observer, June 11, 2008.

On May 31, 2008, a 45-year-old construction worker from Raleigh, North Carolina was killed when a dump truck backed over him. The man was behind the dump truck at the time of the truck accident, but fell, and the driver did not see him.

The death on-the-job case is being investigated, and no charges have been filed.

Source: “Construction Worker Killed In Raleigh,” NBC17.com, May 31, 2008.

On May 26, 2008, a CSX worker at a Robeson County, North Carolina power plant was killed on-the-job when he was buried under 150 tons of coal. The worker died at the Weatherspoon Plant, which is owned by Progress Energy and is located near Lumberton, NC.

The on-the-job accident occurred when a CSX train hauling coal came into the plant, trapping the worker. The work accident remains under investigation.

Source: “Rail employee buried by coal, dies,” Wral.com, May 26, 2008.

Tyson Foods Inc. is staring at a lawsuit brought on by its workers, who are claiming the company failed to compensate them for time spent preparing essentials for their work.

According to the lawsuit, which seeks back wages from March 2006 to the present, as many as 3,500 current and former Tyson production and support employees could be included in a class action lawsuit against the company, if the lawsuit is classified as such.

In November 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court said that workers must be paid for time spent fulfilling “donning and doffing” duties at work. Bosses did not have to pay, however, for time workers spent waiting for protective gear before the work shift starts.

Source: Jerry Perkins, Des Moines Register, “Lawsuit: Tyson Foods cut corners on pay,” March 22, 2008. (http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080322/BUSINESS01/803220321)

On October 2, 2007, a 17-year-old employee of Pallet Express Inc.8 was killed after becoming entangled in a grinder. Pallet Express, of Greensboro, North Carolina, was fined by the state Labor Department for $17,350 for workplace violations after the fatal work accident.

Pallet Express manufactures and sells wooden pallets, and also uses grinders to dispose of obsolete pallets they use for mulch. The company has 15 business days to appeal the fines, or else they must pay them.

Source: “North Carolina Company Fined for Fatal Workplace Accident.” Insurancejornal.com, March 12, 2008. (http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2008/03/12/88147.htm)

A 33 year old man was killed on February 26, 2008 after the back end of an ambulance fell on top of him. A car jack propping the ambulance up might have slipped out, causing the ambulance to crush the mechanic while he was working on the vehicle, says the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The fatal work accident occurred at the Wake County General Services Fleet Management facility on Capitol Boulevard in Wake County, North Carolina. Paramedics who were at the garage waiting for another ambulance to arrive tried to help the mechanic until he could be transported to a hospital. The mechanic was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Source: “Slipped Jack Might Have Led to Wake Mechanic’s Death at County Garage.” Wral.com (http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2496395/) February 27, 2008.

On February 26, 2008, an employee at Wake County General Services Fleet Management was killed while on-the-job at about 2:30 p.m. The deceased worker was a Raleigh resident.

Inspectors from Occupational Safety & Health (OSHA) and from the Department of Labor are investigating the work accident.

Source: “Accident kills county employee,” News and Observer, February 27, 2008 (http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/968355.html).

A journalistic investigation found that poultry company House of Raeford hid injuries to workers that occurred inside its factory, and injured workers were either intimidated, ignored or fired. In addition, the company has filed misleading injury reports and defied regulators.

Since 2000, House of Raeford has received citations for 130 serious workplace safety violations. This is more than most United States poultry companies.

House of Raeford failed to record injuries on government safety logs, which is against the law. Records from the company suggest only several workers are injured each year, but experts say that’s unlikely.

The Columbia, South Carolina plant, which has 800 employees, reported no musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) over a four-year period. And a Greenville, South Carolina plant has boasted of a five-year safety streak with no lost-time accidents. But this could have been misleading, as the company brought injured workers back to the factory only hours after surgery.

At four of the largest House of Raeford plants in NC and SC, first-aid staff have dismissed workers’ requests to see a doctor, refusing worker’s compensation, even while complaining of debilitating pain.

Director of the national injury and illness record-keeping system for the U.S. Labor Department Bob Whitmore said the agency has failed to protect poultry workers. The House of Raeford plants’ behavior, he said, is a violation of the laws of human decency.

Companies that report lower injury rates are rewarded by the government by being inspected less often. Since 2004, no House of Raeford plant has been randomly inspected. The government also rarely checks the accuracy of companies’ reporting.

House of Raeford plants kill, cut and package chicken for restaurants, stores and cafeterias. Some employees are illegal immigrants, and are hesitant to complain of injuries for fear of being fired or deported.

More than 50 former workers were interviewed as part of the journalistic investigation, ten of whom said they were fired after reporting injuries.

One former employment supervisor at a House of Raeford plant, Belem Villegas, said she urged managers to send injured employees to a doctor, but they often refused and did not like “repeat complainers.”

“They’d say, ‘Belem, if they keep coming to the office, they’re going to have to be let go,’” Villegas said. “You complain and you become unemployed.”

Source: “Report: House of Raeford hid injuries, ignored hurt workers,” News and Observer, February 10, 2008.

On February 7, 2008, an evening explosion and fire rocked the Imperial Sugar Co. refinery plant north of Savannah, Georgia, killing three workers and injuring at least 62. The plant is known in Savannah as the Dixie Crystals plant.

Workers began removing debris from the site the next morning, which was still smoldering at midday. The blast from the explosion was so powerful that it shook homes across the Savannah River in South Carolina. The sugar refinery plant is still unsafe to enter, and debris must be removed with structural engineers’ help.

One possible cause of the explosion, according to Captain Matt Stanley of the Savannah Fire Department, was sugar dust that may have ignited, sparking the blast. While this is rare, it is possible.

“A far as we know, it was a sugar dust explosion,” Imperial Sugar CEO John Sheptor said, adding the explosion happened in a storage silo where refined sugar is stored until it is packaged.

Sixty-two people were transported to Savannah-area hospitals.

Joyce Baker, a woman who teaches first aid for the Red Cross, said she was at nearby City Hall when the blast occurred, and raced to the scene. Emergency personnel from 12 counties have been called in to help.

“We had approximately 13 men who were coming out [of the plant], and they were burned - third-degree burns on their upper bodies,” Baker said. “And they were trying to sit down and the only thing that they wanted was to know where the friends were.”

Seventeen people had burns over more than 30 percent of their bodies, and were sent to Still Burn Center. An additional eight patients had burns over 60 percent of their bodies.

Medical director at Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, Dr. William Wessinger, said the victims were mainly burn injuries.

“Many of these also had burns on their face and around their airway which made it very critical,” Wessinger said. “Within a very short time after arrival, a large number of these patients were deemed to have airway problems.”

Out of the 95 to 100 people suspected to be working in the area of the explosion, more than one dozen are still missing.

“We always try to act with hope in mind, no matter what,” Savannah-Chatham County Police Chief Michael Berkow said. “But at this point, we expect to find fatalities inside the building. I don’t know how many, but that’s what we expect.”

In the night following the explosion, flames burned and spread from the main building to other parts of the refinery. Firefighters were attempting to prevent this, as other parts of the building holds flammable materials. The sugar refinery explosion comes after the U.S. Department of Labor issues new inspection guidelines in October 2007 for workplaces handling combustible dust particles. This includes sugar dust.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) classifies buildings that have a lot of sugar dust as “hazardous locations.” Other plants that receive this classification are coal preparation plants and producers of plastics, medicines and fireworks.

The state Department of Agriculture last inspected the Dixie Crystals plant, located in Port Wentworth, on October 30, 2007. At that time, the plant received two citations for violations: one involved an opening in a packing room area that could allow pests to enter, and the other was related to buckets used for packing molasses in a warehouse not being properly protected.

Sources: “Three bodies found in Georgia refinery blast,” CNN.com, February 8, 2008; “Death toll lowered in Georgia sugar refinery blast; 3 dead, many still missing,” FoxNews.com, February 8, 2008.

On November 6, 2007, the Court of Appeals of North Carolina upheld a 2006 trial court’s ruling that Merisel Americas, Inc., is liable for an employee’s permanent injuries.

Between December 1998 and April 2000, Nathan Cameron worked in Merisel Americas’ Cary office, which had a history of water leaks and moisture problems. Cameron’s windows leaked when it rained and the walls, ceilings, and carpets in his office had been damaged by water and mold. In 1999, the office next to his flooded, increasing the water damage.

Cameron began having trouble with his balance and vision, and in the fall of 1999, was determined to have developed irreversible damage to his inner ear and vestibular system, resulting in permanent loss of balance.

He sued Merisel in 2002, claiming his workplace was contaminated with toxic molds and that the company’s negligence caused Cameron’s personal injuries. The case went to trial in Wake County in March 2006, and the jury found Merisel liable for damages. Cameron was awarded $1,600,000 for his injury, and his wife was awarded $200,000 for her loss of his company and services.

The decision was appealed, but in November 2007 the Court of Appeals of North Carolina affirmed the jury’s decision.

Industrial diseases and other injuries such as Cameron’s are covered under North Carolina Workers’ Compensation statutes. If you’ve been injured on the job you may have a case. Contact the professional workers’ compensation team at the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin today for more information.

Source: “Court finds toxic mold caused worker’s health problems,” Business and Legal Reports, November 30, 2007.

Between December 2006 and July 2007, eleven workers at Quality Pork Processors, Inc. in Austin, Texas have been sickened with a neurological disorder, but the cause remains unknown. Five of the worker’s illnesses have been identified as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), a rare disease that normally affects fewer than 2 people per 100,000.

CIDP is a chronic disease that results in nerve damage and could lead to disability. It is an inflammation of the nervous system that can cause muscle weakness, tingling sensations in the arms and legs, and pain over several months. Some workers who have been treated may experience “residual numbness or weakness after treatment.”

State officials said no evidence exists to indicate the public faces an increased risk, or that the food supply in the hog slaughtering and processing plant has been affected. CIDP is usually caused by a trigger that causes the immune system to attack the protective sheath that surrounds nerves.

Dr. Suraj Muley, associate professor of neurology at the University of Minnesota and an expert on the disease, has suggested that the Austin plant be shut down until the investigation of the illnesses is complete, but state officials said there is no significant reason to shut it down.

“All of the information we have to date indicates that the general public is not at increased risk for developing this type of illness,” said Sanne Magnan, state health commissioner. “There is no evidence that the food supply has been affected.”

The investigation began near the end of October 2007, when plant health officials reported an unusual pattern of symptoms restricted to one group of employees working in a single area of the plant. The part of production in which the group worked used compressed air to clear away unwanted brain tissue so meat in the heads of hogs could be removed. The sickened workers are different ages, genders and ethnic groups, and their work area was the only thing they all had in common.

The plant has continued to operate but has stopped using the compressed air, and has issued safety goggles and long-sleeves to wear. Most of the 11 sickened workers have returned to work, or had never left.

The state has said it will be widening its investigation to determine if other processing plants around the country have had similar problems or illnesses.

Source: Steve Alexander and Josephine Marcotty, “Rare illness sickens 11 at Austin pork plant,” Star Tribune, December 4, 2007.

Workers across the country received added protection on the job from the Labor Department on November 14, 2007, when the department said a new Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule will take effect in six months. The new rule will force employers to pay for all personal safety equipment, also called PPE.

“When employers pay for PPE, they are more likely to select the right PPE for the hazards present in their workplaces,” said Edwin G. Foulke Jr., assistant labor secretary for occupational safety and health. “When employers pay for PPE, we have found that they also make sure that the equipment is maintained and replaced as necessary, and generally take more responsibility for PPE selection and use.”

The rule, initially proposed in 1999, will cover the rest of the 95 percent of PPE costs employers already pay. The additional five percent will be approximately $85 million.

According to Foulke, employers won’t have to pay for ordinary safety-toed footwear, ordinary prescription safety eyewear, logging boots, and ordinary clothing and weather-related gear that can be worn off the job.

“America’s working men and women deserve the proper equipment to keep them safe on the job, each and every day, and we will thoroughly review this rule to make sure it protects them,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said.

Source: Jesse J. Holland, Associated Press, “OSHA taps employers for safety gear costs,” November 14, 2007.

A Chicago Tribune investigation found that some of the 160,000 guest workers allowed into North Carolina have been treated like modern-day slaves, cheated out of their wages, and shifted from job to job with little control over their fate. The investigation focused on federal records, lawsuits, and interviews with farmers, workers and advocacy groups.

Some workers are forced into dangerous jobs or are financially stranded because of broken promises made by United States labor contractors. A common tactic, the investigation found, is to offer good-paying jobs, only to dump workers into hazardous low-paying jobs.

Many have also been taken advantage of by foreign recruiters who charge hefty fees, putting them in severe debt that they have to pay off by continuing to work. Once in the U.S., some of these workers are underpaid, making them virtually slaves to their debt holders.

Some jobs do not work out or workers are let go early. Such workers can become part of an “underground” of illegal workers, adding to an already complex problem.

North Carolina Legal Aid lawyer Carol Brooke complained to federal officials in 2001 about workers who were forced to live in unheated tents in the winter and had their pay docked to use outdoor toilets. In 2002, she again asked officials to bar the firm paying the workers, and sent evidence detailing workers who were unpaid, paid at inconsistent pay rates, and given misleading information about what jobs they would perform. Brooke alleged that workers who complained about the treatment they were receiving were threatened with prison or deportation.

In one case examined by the Tribune, 30 guest Thai workers were brought to the U.S. in 2005 by a North Carolina labor contractor, who then removed their passports and showed them guns as a warning against them trying to get away. They were taken to New Orleans where they repaired hurricane-damaged buildings, during which time they lived in a condemned hotel.

“There was no electricity, no safe water, and they were told they couldn’t light candles and they didn’t have any money for food,” said lawyer Mary Lee Hall. The workers were eventually brought to a North Carolina farm, where they escaped. A lawsuit has since been filed against the contactors.

Source: Stephen Franklin and Darnell Little, “When guest equals ghost,” Chicago Tribune, November 11, 2007.

On October 15, 2007, a construction worker in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina fell 12 to 15 feet down an elevator shaft, breaking his ribs and an ankle. The worker, who was not identified, was an employee of Hardin Construction and was working on the RBC Plaza at Fayetteville and Martin Streets.

The injured worker fell from about the 21st floor of the high-rise construction site at about 8:45 a.m. He was lowered down from the building in a crane with the help of the Fire Department.

A Hardin Construction official said this is the first serious injury on the project since it began in October 2006.

Sources: “Fall injures worker at RBC Plaza,” News and Observer, October 16, 2007; “Construction worker hurt in fall in Raleigh,” Abc11.com, October 15, 2007.

On November 14, 2003, Alvaro Flores Anzo was working with a Kernersville, North Carolina leaf-collection truck and was using a vacuum hose device attached to the truck. The truck began moving forward while he was still beside it, which caused him to trip and fall over a pile of sticks and leaves in front of him. Anzo fell beneath the truck tire, and suffered severe internal injuries and the amputation of his right leg.

On November 13, 2006, Anzo filed a lawsuit against the driver of the truck, Ivan Craig Smith, and the town of Kernersville. After the case was transferred to Forsyth County Superior Court on August 29, 2007, the case has reached mediation.

Anzo is seeking more than $10,000 for his injuries and past and future economic losses.

At the time of the accident, Anzo was illiterate and knew only Spanish, and he had received no formal training in the use of the truck. The lawsuit alleges Smith was negligent because he did not properly lookout in driving the truck and failed to tell Anzo he was moving forward. The suit also says Smith ignored a manufacturer’s recommendation that the truck not move while the vacuum hose was in operation.

The town of Kernersville is allegedly negligible because it failed to properly supervise and train Smith on the proper method of leaf collection, especially in emphasizing the manufacturer’s recommendation that the truck remain motionless while the leaf collection device was being used.

The lawsuit also says Kernersville should have done more to instruct and warn temporary workers about the dangers in collecting leaves, and should have taken into account many of its workers only speak Spanish. The town also allegedly used a defectively designed truck, in which the leaf vacuum hose was positioned in front of the rear axle and wheels on the passenger side, and that a spring device on the hose was defective.

Smith and the town of Kernersville have denied all claims that they were at fault, and say if they were negligent, then Anzo was also negligent by failing to keep a proper lookout and take “reasonable care to avoid the injury.”

Source: Wesley Young, “Former worker has sued the town,” Winston Salem Journal, October 11, 2007.

An injured longshoreman has settled his worker’s compensation case against the South Carolina State Ports Authority (SCSPA). The settlement came following an incident in November 2004, when Michael Clarkin was nearly crushed to death by a steel shipping container that fell on his car.

The container was suspended fifty feet above the ground when a faulty lifting device dropped the 20-foot-long steel box onto Clarkin’s vehicle below. The SCSPA’s liability in the case was limited to $140,000.

Clarkin’s family testified that he suffered extensive leg and back injuries, as well as sustained damage to his nervous system. Clarkin’s wife testified that the accident had affected his behavior, causing him to go into angry outbursts.

Clark was a clerk who tracked the movement of the shipping containers at the SCSPA’s North Charleston Terminal.

Defendants in a product liability lawsuit that stemmed from the accident were Kalmar Industries, the manufacturer of the lifter, and Gregory Poole Equipment Company, the distributor. Between his settlement with the SCSPA and the product liability lawsuit, Clarkin won a combined settlement of $13.2 million dollars.

A spokeswoman from the SCSPA said that the equipment failure was caused by a design defect that was later corrected.

Source: “Longshoreman settles case for $13.2 million,” Associated Press, October 3, 2007.

A North Carolina police officer was permanently injured after volunteering to be shocked by a stun gun at a police department training class.

The officer’s stun gun injury was the subject of a case report published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine on September 10, 2007.

The officer, a healthy, 38-year-old, volunteered to receive a five-second Taser discharge, which usually fires two darts into its target. To prevent puncturing the officer’s skin, however, the Taser charge was conveyed through two alligator clips.

Initially, everything appeared normal, with the officer experiencing the usual pain and muscle contractions. But he still continued to suffer severe back pain, and was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where doctors found two fractured vertebrae. A report said the fractures were caused by intense muscle contractions.

Nine weeks later, the officer was still suffering considerable pain, and told doctors he had only been able to return to work part-time and at a desk job.

Sources: Eric Nagourney, “Safety: In stun gun training, officer’s spine is fractured,” New York Times, September 18, 2007; James E. Winslow, et.al, “Thoracic Compression Fractures as a Result of Shock From a Conducted Energy Weapon: A Case Report,” Annals of Emergency Medicine 50:3, September, 2007.

On April 26, 2006, Robert Boisvert was driving home from work in New Sharon, Maine, when he fell asleep. His truck veered across the center line, and he hit an oncoming car driven by Ernest Kempton. Bosivert was pronounced dead at the scene and Kempton was critically injured.

Now Robert’s widow, Dawn Boisvert, has sued N.R.F. Distributors, her husband’s employer. Dawn alleges the company made Robert work excessively long hours despite his objections, and that exhaustion from working those hours contributed to the car accident.

It is unclear, however, if Maine law will allow such a claim to be brought against an employer. Kempton has filed a lawsuit against Boisvert and against N.R.F.

N.R.F. denies responsibility for Boisvert’s death and for Kempton’s injuries.

Source: “Maine employee’s widow sues employer over asleep-at-wheel crash,” Insurance Journal, July 23, 2007.

On June 13, 2007, a 67-year-old construction worker was killed in a hit-and-run car accident on North Carolina Highway 96 near Bruce Garner Road in Granville County. Witnesses say the car, traveling 55 miles-per-hour in a 45-miles-per-hour zone, hit Richard “R.C.” Williamson while driving through the work zone.

Williamson was conscious immediately after the accident but died June 14, 2007 at Duke University Hospital. He was flagging traffic for Ellington Landscaping, the company doing roadwork in the area, when the car accident occurred.

The driver of the car was seen talking on a cell phone, and the car knocked down traffic barrels, warning signs, and barricades while driving through the work zone. The vehicle is described as a two-door white or cream-colored car.

Car accident lawsuits may be filed in wrongful death cases if negligence can be shown.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Highway Patrol’s Durham office at 919-560-6868.

Source: Beau Minnick, “Construction worker dies after hit-and-run,” Wral.com, June 15, 2007.

In South Gate, California, a rare and life-threatening disease has begun turning up in microwave popcorn workers’ lungs. The disease, called fixed obstructive lung disease, has been linked to a chemical used in artificial butter flavoring called diacetyl, and is confirmed to have caused one death.

The first case of this disease, also known as popcorn workers lung, was diagnosed in 2005. Since then, flavoring manufacturers have paid over $100 million as a result of worker’s compensation lawsuits filed by workers diagnosed with the disease over the past five years.

No federal laws currently regulate diacetyl’s use, but California Assemblywoman Sally Lieber has introduced a bill to ban the use of the chemical. State health officials have also screened workers at 29 of California’s food-flavoring plants to look for lung problems.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has received criticism for what some call “regulatory paralysis,” or failing to regulate the chemical and its effects on workers.

“It’s not some carcinogen where you get cancer 30 years from now or something. The people are dying right in front of you,” David Michaels, assistant secretary of energy in the Bill Clinton administration, said. “You can’t wait until you have all the evidence. You have to regulate it.”

In addition to not knowing definitively if diacetyl causes obstructive lung disease, little is known about the health effects of eating diacetyl in butter-flavored popcorn or of breathing the fumes after a bag is microwaved.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the chemical on its list of substances that are generally thought of as “safe,” but no extensive tests have been conducted to confirm its safety. In addition, while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has studied the chemical, it is admittedly waiting for the industry to review it before releasing the results of the study.

Many of the California workers with the irreversible lung disease are young Latinos with no history of smoking, and it can be hard to persuade them to take the disease seriously, according to Len Walsh, acting director of the California division of OSHA.

“They don’t believe they’ve got a problem because they can only feel mild effects,” Walsh said. “They want to keep their jobs.”

Source: Geis, Sonya, “Flavoring suspected in illness,” Washington Post, May 7, 2007.

Michael Wayne Pegram, 24, of Fayetteville, NC was injured on the job March 21, 2007 while operating a backhoe at C.J. Pegram Sand and Gravel Company. According to at least one television news report, the backhoe Pegram was operating slid down an embankment in the gravel pit in which he was working and then flipped over onto him.

The backhoe rolled over Pegram’s chest. He was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition Wednesday night. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the scene to determine if safety violations led to this job accident.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2005 workers doing jobs which involved sand and gravel mining and quarrying activities had an incidence rate of 3.2 injuries per 100 full-time workers (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Industry Injury and Illness Data-2005, Summary Table 1-Incidence rates-detailed industry level-2005).

Sources: “Backhoe Rolls over Worker at Gravel Pit,” abc11tv.com, March 21, 2007; “1 Injured in Accident at Fayetteville Gravel Pit,” wral.com, March 21, 2007.

On March 6, 2007 a 50-year-old employee of the S & W Ready Mix Concrete Company in Fayetteville, NC was killed in a job accident when sand in the equipment he was working with collapsed around him, burying him.

The job accident occurred about 9 a.m. when Barry Johnson of Fayetteville climbed into a sand hopper to try to remove a large rock that was stuck there. The sand inside the hopper gave way and poured through a chute above Johnson’s head.

Although Johnson’s head was above the sand and rescue workers administered oxygen while attempting to dig him out, the injured worker was not breathing when they arrived. A rescue squad attempted to remove him from the sand for about six hours. It is believed by authorities that Johnson died of his work-related injuries due to the weight of the sand.

Mr. Johnson had worked at the S & W Ready Mix Concrete Company, located at 1309 Reilly Road in Fayetteville, for 15 years. According to his plant manager he was not violating safety rules at the time of his death.

A WRAL.com report did not indicate whether further investigation into the wrongful death from this on-the-job accident was pending.

Source: “Man Dies in Concrete Company Sand Pit,” WRAL.com, March 7, 2007.

The Environmental Quality (EQ) Industrial Services facility in Apex was fined $553,225 by the North Carolina Division of Waste Management on March 6, 2007 for violations committed before the October 5, 2006 chemical fire that forced the evacuation of thousands of Apex area residents.

According to a WRAL report, the Division of Waste Management stated EQ Industrial Services did not report chemical reactions, waste releases or fires that happened at the facility prior to the October 5th explosion and chemical fire. The state of North Carolina will terminate EQ Industrial Services permit to handle hazardous waste. A revocation of permit would prevent the Apex company from re-opening.

Residents of Apex appear to be relieved about the Division of Waste Management’s pending decision. Lisa Leonard, an area resident, said, ” When I told people where we were from they said, “˜Oh your town blew up, didn’t it?’”

“I would like to see them gone,” Leonard continued.

Mayor Keith Weatherly seemed to share Leonard’s feelings. “The sense of well-being was disrupted from our community for a while and probably won’t be fully restored until this issue is resolved that EQ will not resume its activities in the town of Apex,” Weatherly said.

EQ Industrial Services has 60 days to contest the fine levied by the Division of Waste Management. No details on the violations which prompted the large fine are available yet on the Division’s website. A public hearing on the matter is scheduled for April 12 in the Apex Town Hall at 7 p.m. Residents wanting to comment prior to the hearing may file written remarks with the state until the 23rd of April.
To file a comment about the EQ Industrial Services fire and possible permit revocation, write to:

Elizabeth W. Cannon, Chief North Carolina Hazardous Waste Section MSC 1646 401 Oberlin Road, Suite 150 Raleigh, NC 27699-1646

Sources: “Apex Residents Pleased With EQ’s Fine,” WRAL.com, March 6, 2007; Hazardous Waste Section Civil Penalty Assessments 2006, North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, accessed March 8, 2007; “State Fines EQ North Carolina, Proposes Permit Termination,” North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, March 6, 2007.

Two electrical workers died of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning on Saturday, February 17, 2007 while working on an addition to the Kidde Aerospace and Defense building in Wilson, NC. The men, identified on February 19 as Ethan Jones and Milton Johnson, both worked for Wheeler Electric Company and were found unconscious about 12:30 p.m. Tests showed carbon monoxide levels at more than 500 parts per million inside the room where they were working, a level more than 50 times more than that considered safe.

About 40 workers were inside the Kidde plant when a team of six contractors from Wheeler Electric were cutting concrete inside the Kidde building at 4200 Airport Drive West. Wheeler Electric owner Davis Wheeler said Jones and Johnson were installing electrical wiring beneath the floor.

Early reports from some witnesses at the scene indicate that Jones and Johnson may have sealed off a room and possibly turned on a gas-powered saw before they collapsed. Kidde workers on the scene who spoke with the Wilson Daily Times said they smelled a strong odor shortly before noon.

Ten fire units from the city of Wilson responded to the scene. State emergency officials shut down the plant and began ventilating the plant of toxic fumes. Wilson Medical Center officials said roughly 50 suspected injured workers were transported there as a precautionary measure, were treated and released.

The North Carolina Department of Labor arrived at the Kidde plant late Saturday afternoon to investigate the cause of the suspected carbon monoxide poisoning. Kidde Aerospace is expected to resume operation and re-open the site of the accident on Monday, February 19. If the department discovers irregularities or safety violations, it could issue citations to one or both of the companies involved in the industrial accident.

Sources: Benjamin Niolet, “Gas kills 2, sickens many at work site,” Raleigh News & Observer, February 18, 2007; Dan Bowens and Dana Franks, “Two Workers Dead After Suspected CO Poisoning Inside Wilson Plant,” WRAL.com, February 18, 2007; Dan Bowens and Dana Franks, “Investigators Look for Clues in Fatal Plant Accident,” WRAL.com, February 19, 2007; Gina Childress, Matthew Shaw and Sarah Thuerk, “Kidde Aerospace Victims ID,” Wilson Daily Times, February 18, 2007; “Building where men killed by carbon monoxide to reopen,” Associated Press, February 19, 2007.

Despite what was described as “an impassioned plea” from New York’s Congressional delegation, continual calls for more aid from state Senators, and a federal needs estimate of more than $250 million, the White House has agreed to only spend an additional $25 million for the medical care needs of 9/11 rescue workers who became ill after exposure to toxic dust.

A preliminary estimate by the federal government has put the total cost of treating all the emergency workers who need extended medical care to treat the major illnesses and other serious personal injuries they are suffering from toxic dust exposure at more than $250 million. Representative Vito J. Fossella called the $25 million agreement from the White House “a big breakthrough.” The $25 million caps $75 million the delegation received from Congress last year, a sum that is running out fast.

Representative Jerrold R. Nadler called the figure “grossly inadequate.” Treatment programs currently being run by Mount Sinai Medical Center and by the New York City Fire Department are working well, according to New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, but will need more federal support to stay alive.

Thousands of rescue workers from Ground Zero are facing severe health problems, more than half of which are respiratory illnesses. Cancer cases linked to Ground Zero continue to rise. Delegation representatives said they were told by Rob Portman, director of the White House Office of Management and Budge, that the $25 million was a starting sum and that their finding may be the basis for additional aid in the future.

Source: Sewell Chan, “New York Lawmakers Obtain $25 Million for Ill 9/11 Workers,” New York Times, January 31, 2007.

Parents within the Apex community met October 15, 2006 to discuss concerns about a gym near the plant that has been shut down since the EQ Industries fire. Tests at the gym found traces of mercury and other contaminants in the heating and ventilation systems.

While workers from a private firm have been working to clean the facility, parents said they are worried about the final results of the cleanup, including the environment in areas around the gym.

Mercury has been associated with various dangerous side effects, including:

• Tremors
• Emotional changes
• Insomnia
• Weakness
• Headaches
• Kidney effects
• Respiratory failure
• Death

Federal investigators have said the exact cause of the fire at the plant will probably never be known because much of the evidence was destroyed in the fire, which will make it difficult to piece together what happened.

“We might be able to come up with some likely scenarios, but that would be the best that we would hope for,” said Robert Hall, leader of the investigation. “The evidence is extensively destroyed.”

Investigators spent about a week interviewing town officials and employees at the plant, photographing and examining the site of the plant, and analyzing the material. If investigators decide to launch a full investigation, the