3M Company: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on May 31, 2006: Employee sustain burns to face and hand from circuit breaker

At approximately 1:14 a.m. on May 31, 2006, Employee #1, an electrician, was wor king on a 480 motor power circuit at the Crushing & Screening Motor Control Cent er. The screw driver he was using caused a phase to ground short resulting in a large electrical arc flash. While attempting to clear an electrical fault and ti ghtening lugs on the Number 5 Rolls Crusher Feed Conveyor Circuit Breaker, the u ninsulated screw driver caused a short when the tip of the screw driver was inad vertently inserted into a lug on the energized feed side of the breaker. The sho rt was completed when shaft of the screw driver contacted the grounded metal fra me of the circuit enclosure. The main circuit breaker (1,500 ampere rated) upstr eam from the electrician tripped out as a result of this short circuit. The elec trician was hospitalized to treat burns to his face and hand and was then releas e on June 2, 2006. The electrician stated that he was talking to the plant opera tor via walkie talkie at the time of the arc flash and was not paying attention to the location of his screw driver. The electrician also stated that he had no intention of working on the energized side of the breaker but inadvertently plac ed the screw driver into the recessed lug on the energized side. The cause of th is accident was the employee in attention to his work and a failure to test for the presence of voltage, as required by California Code of Regulations Title 8 - 2320.3 prior to starting work.

Incident on May 22, 2006 (fatal): Employee is killed in fall from platform

At approximately 3:20 p.m. on May 22, 2006, Employee #1 climbed over a guard rai ling and out onto an elevated pallet supported by a forklift. Employee #1 was no t wearing or using fall protection. While on the elevated pallet Employee #1 was attempting to free the crossed replacement screen deck materials. Employee #1 f ell approximately 16-ft 6-in. to the ground. After landing on the ground Employe e #1 was then struck by the falling replacement screens. Employee #1's fall was likely caused by a shifting of the pallet on the forklift forks. The load on the pallet shifted because of Employee #1's own weight moving across the top of the pallet. The fall and the screens that struck Employee #1 caused serious injurie s to his back and internal bleeding. Employee #1 was taken to the hospital and d ied a day and a half later.

Incident on Nov 10, 2004: Employee falls and injures pelvis and back

On November 10, 2004, an employee stood between a crusher pit and the front of a Komatsu loader (Model Number WAWCO IL, Identification Number A20013). He was re moving a 22-foot section of damaged steel that was used to protect the face of t he truck berm. The employee was not wearing fall protection. When the steel slip ped off the loader bucket, the employee jumped onto the truck berm to avoid bein g hit by the falling steel. To keep from being struck by the steel, the employee jumped up onto the truck berm and lost his balance. He fell approximately 13.5 feet from the truck berm into a crusher feeder pit. He received serious injuries to his pelvis and back, and was hospitalized.