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A SLOVENIAN WOMAN needed hospital treatment for burn injuries today after an explosion in a farm toilet believed to have been caused by a build-up of methane, police in Austria said.
“When the woman turned on the light there was a sudden explosion, leaving the woman with burn injuries on both arms, hands and her head,” a statement from Steiermark state police in southern Austria said.
They said the cause was thought to be a leak of methane from a nearby septic tank that collected inside the toilet cubicle.
A spark from the electrical circuit then caused the gas to explode.
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such a terrible tragedy its heartbreaking. imagine saying goodbye to ur husband this morning as he went off to work only to be told he died on the job god above its beyond sad may they rest peacefully
I didn’t mean to press dislike and can’t undo it! You expressed exactly what I was thinking. Horrible accident.
I hope they are okay. I work in the offshore industry and when we work over water from suspended platforms we unhook our harnesses when working over water and connect again when over the solid again. If the health and safety person in charge had thought about it at a practical level this could have been avoided.
Sad to hear that two of the men have died, my thoughts are with their family and friends……
May the two men who died rest in peace and God comfort their family’s and friends . Just would like to reply by saying sometimes we can be over run with red tape H/S on a job.
Health & Safety manual likely did not cover working suspended over water. People are so consumed with following prescribed directions they fail to stop and think if those directions make sense. Tragic
My stomach churns when I hear that chopper. It’s becoming the new death knell
I live in an area where we hear rescue helicopters every other day. Thankfully the majority of people live to see another day. It was reported two of these men were under for 10 minutes, unable to untie themselves from their safety harnesses.
Ah stop.
I work in the construction industry and the general accepted practice when working at height in a cherry picker or similar is to have a harness on and clipped onto a point with a lanyard. The one exception to this is working above deep water for the very reason you mention here i.e. Bigger risk of drowning or being trapped than being hurt by a fall, obviously it’s a different story if shallow water. People give out stink about preparing risk assessments, but it just goes to show stuff like this needs to be considered.
Hope these lads are all ok and able to get back to work ASAP.
Didn’t realise two people had passed when I made my comment. Absolute tragedy and my thoughts go out to the families.
That’s a very good point Ian Walsh……I worked on heights for years but never over water, I totally agree with you.
Also, just a word of thanks to all the Emergency Services personnel who responded, a nasty call to get.
We had to use life jackets over water and lanyards over ground (the lifejackets were self inflating with the safety harness worn underneath, so most of it was remembering to clip on or off)
Bless these guys, and their families. what a horrible tragedy.
maybe journal writers should close this article, for compassionate reasons. Yous could always post an updated article
If i was in trouble i’d be quite happy to hear R115, the work the do is unreal
why were these guys hooked to the cage? surely they should have been on to a separate line to the bridge!
I’m only speculating, but from what I can pick up they were working out of a man basket attached to a crane. In this case your harness would normally be hooked onto a point inside the basket in case you fell out while leaning out to do whatever work you’re doing. It sounds like either the chain connecting the basket to the hook, or the rope on the crane snapped causing the basket to fall into the river. I don’t want to say too much as I don’t know any of the details but I’m sure there will be an investigation and hopefully the findings will ensure something like this is less likely to happen in future.
If that was the case they should have had a separate sling on the hook with their harnesses attached. Very sad.
@hector,if they had a safety line to both the crane and the basket then upon the cable holding the basket failing their safety line would end up supporting the weight of the basket, ie a safety line with them in the middle between crane and basket. Not a good scenario.
RIP to both men.
RIP to those poor men. Condolences to their families and friends.
I happened to be working at the hospital today when these men were brought in so I’m not going to comment on the specifics except to say this. The tragedy is beyond words and I have always thought that there is something even more sad about people dying while out doing an honest days work. I can’t begin to imagine the terror they felt as they plunged into the water. But please, as well as their distraught families, please remember their co-workers who were there with them and the lad who survived the fall as well. It is heartbreaking to say the least and I truly hope everyone concerned can deal with the aftermath of this tragedy.
Well done to the emergency services also, including the volunteers.
Paul stop being horrible. Two men have passed away this afternoon. Please have some respect.
Have they? Passed away!
sadly yes.
Passed over this bridge this lunchtime on the way home from Kilkee where the helicopter has been out all week searching for the Japanese tourists. Heard the sirens this afternoon from home whilst unpacking and the helicopter (briefly). How precarious life is and like a previous poster said, the sound of the helicopter overhead is almost like a modern day death knell. Such a dreadfully sad thing to happen on an ordinary day. Two lives gone. And countless bereaved forever. Heartfelt condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones from Thomond Bridge today.
Rip.they probably would have survived if they were not made to clip their lanyard onto cage which they probably had zero % chance of falling out of. Just more health and safety bullshit taking it overboard again. Let’s not forget common sense.
It’s true health and safety is gone to far in this country common sense seems to have disappeared R.I.P
This is a very sad accident…rest in peace. I don’t know the circumstances as regards health & safety issues but surely there must be a safety chain attatched to the crane to prevent the cradle/cage being disconnected and also unclipped harness over water.
Very sad news. RIP
crane didn’t look fit for purpose basket was huge at least 400 kgs plus the weight of the three men and tools hanging from a truck mounted crane.. terrible tragedy may they rest in peace
terrible tragedy, RIP
This is heartbreaking. Where I work in Limerick, we have a great view of Thomond Bridge and have been watching these poor men working away all week in the dreadful weather we have. My sympathies are with their families and co-workers .R.I.P.
So sad thoughts and prayers are with the families may their souls rest in peace.
Poor guys.l and their families. Such a freak accident.
Sad & Tragic news.. but mostly this news has left me feeling very angry. I know not all the facts are out yet & it is possible the media may have got some things wrong but even with my limited background working with cranes n lifting equipment a few observations :-
1. That looked like a standard size cage for a larger size crane . No specialised lightweight cage for smaller crane. Increased weight load.
2. We were always told by H&S never more than 2 in the cage at a time regardless of crane size. Manoverability to work or in this case to get harness off.
3. H&S not to have harnesses fixed to a secure point on bridge was a major oversight. Should not have been fixed to cage or to crane as crane could have toppled into water – normal procedure would be to fix to cage but point is was there a risk assessment!?
4. Working at a lower point of gravity changes the load spread and tipping point of the load. Also a lot of chains and links are not designed for this type of lift.
Even with a stress failure of the load equipment
There should not have been fatalities. We have already learnt lessons from previous tradgies that this should not have happened. I for one hope this investigation is quick and very public.
To many times I have driven past sites and cringed seeing dangerous work practices mostly carried out to save on expenses. Can’t help feeling if the cage was fixed at secure points this would not have happened.
My deepest sympathies to the families.
RIP
RIP Very tragic! But looking at pictures the crane they talking about seems to be no more than an hiab on a truck which would not be used for jobs like that ? more for collecting and deliverys !
Why where they harnessed to the cage with life jackets ,they would have had a chance if they where not stuck to a cage .
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