I am still not sleeping long. I feel that I am sleeping deep but just not long. I have really tried to go back to sleep but have been minimally successful. Some days I will , most days I,don’t. My mind just gets thinking about various things and I just cannot get back to sleep, so usually I just say screw it and get up and putter around doing various things.
Today I woke up and was thinking about 9/11 and the events after 9/11 when our country came together instead of the division we are seeing these days. Certainly watching the debate last night probably did not help.
Personally I thought old Cheetolini fell flat on his face and looked like the bumbling nasarcist that he is. The bit on the Springfield, Illinois pets being eaten was just beyond belief. You know how you can tell he is lying? If his lips are moving, he is lying. Anyway back to 9/11.
I shared last year about what Jennifer and I were doing that day, and I certainly was thinking about that today. However I was also thinking about post 9/11 stuff.
I had one of the hardest work assignments that I had to work on post 9/11. That was investigating a multiple workplace fatality that occurred at our Fairfield,Texas field office. We lost two employees in this event and it was directly related to 9/11.
Here is some background. After the events of 9/11 the employees at that office realized that there was not a flag pole with the American flag and company flying at the office. They felt there should be one, every other office had flagpoles with both the American and Company flag flying proudly.
Unfortunately there was no budget money to put in a flag pole. So the employees decided to start a grassroots effort to put one in on their own. They scrounged up materials and had local contractors join in (providing their expertise and labor) in constructing the actual pole. So they worked hard on this and had a goal to get the pole finished before the annual contractor safety meeting in October 2011. They dug a base for the pole and poured concrete with the pole base in it. The pole was going to be a hinged design so it could be lowered for maintenance in the future (if needed). Well lots of people worked hard and the pole was finished up the day before the contractor safety meeting.
The contractor that fabricated the pole showed up with the pole just before lunch and a group of employees went out and grabbed the pole off the contractors trailer and carried it to the site to install it. My recollection is that five employees were directly involved and several other employees were observing them from inside the office. The employees put the hinge together and started to push/ hoist the pole up. Four of the employees had their hands on the pole and one was pulling on the rope that would used for raising and lowering the flag. As they began pushing the pole up two of the employees had just let go of the pole because they could no longer push (it had exceeded their height/reach). The two employees who were nearer the bottom of the pole still were in direct contact with the pole and continued pushing it up and the one employee was still pulling on the rope. This is when disaster struck as they just about got the pole to its full height, high voltage electricity entered the pole and the two employees still in contacted with the pole were electrocuted.
One key item/issue that was overlooked during the design and placement of the flagpole was its proximity to the high voltage transmission power line that was near the office building. Our investigation had determine that the Fairfield office used to have a flag pole but it was removed because of its proximity to the power line. The flags were getting caught up in the power line. That institutional knowledge was lost over the years as people moved into/out of that field office.
Needless to say that was an extremely sad and totally preventable incident. It took a heavy toll on the employees in that office (especially those that had survived or viewed the incident) and the Fairfield community. The two gentleman who were killed were very active in the community and both were very liked. So it was just horrible.
I was the lead investigator and was involved with interviewing the folks that were involved. It was painful to ask them what they recollected and saw it just hours after it occurred. We got through it, but I tell you it was tough.
The saddest part is that if this activity had been viewed as being a truly work related activity (e.g., putting a rig on a location, installing a pumping unit, etc.) that this incident would very likely not happened. The reason is because these employees would have used the processes and tools to evaluate and discuss the work at hand. However this was viewed as just putting up a damn flag pole, what could happen. So they did not really evaluate/discuss what could happen and sadly they found out the hardest way possible.
Sadly the time of day also played a role in this incident, as I said the pole was being installed at lunch time (so close to noon). When you stood at the base of the flagpole and looked up the glare of the sun made seeing the power line very difficult.
When a company has a fatality, you have to inform the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of this. They will usually send a representative to also investigate the incident. This did happen in this case as we were not far from their Dallas, Tx office. During my discussion with the two OSHA reps who came, they informed me that there had been several other flagpole incidents in their jurisdiction. Again everyone was wanting to show their patriotism especially after 9/11.
After this was all said and done, the Fairfield, Texas office did have a flagpole and it was dedicated to the two employees who were killed. However what was no longer there was the high voltage transmission power line. It had been rerouted and buried.
Well enough for today.
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