Accident at the Sunny Spruce @ Stowe

[billski]

Here at my job we can only clip on to approved attachment points that are rated for 5000 pounds. Maybe one of the guys falling is what actually pulled down the haul rope.

All seriousness aside, this gives me visions of them dropping you down into the pressure cooker to replace the pretzel rods out on Rocks Road.:-o

 

[OldsnowboarderME]

All seriousness aside, this gives me visions of them dropping you down into the pressure cooker to replace the pretzel rods out on Rocks Road.:-o

I do have to climb to the top of the pressurizer above the reactor cavity. it is a long ways down to the bottom of the cavity when it is not flooded.. has to be at least a 100 feet.

 

[OldsnowboarderME]

ok, so i just can't resist...i don't typically post on forums, but i though you all might like some of the "inside scoop" on this accident.
first off, i'm a ski patroller at stowe mountain resort (but i snowboard), and i work full time as a paramedic for the town of stowe, vermont...i was the paramedic that responded to this accident along with the volunteer ambulance crew.
the workers were doing maintenance on the lift which some times requires them replace or work on the shivs (which is probably spelt wrong). the shivs are the wheels on the sides of the lift towers that the cable rides on. they get old, wear out, stop spinning ect...
so to work on them they need to lift the cable up off of the shivs using various methods.
the workers are in a work basket (how appropriate) that rides on the cable the same way a chair does...it just allows them to cary tools, part ect. and climb up higher than a chair would. so there is the scenario. workers in the work basket thats on the cable that is being mechanically lifted off the tower, or shiv wheels. they literally get hight enough that the shiv wheels are about waist level. and yeah, this is how its done...the correct way...with lots of safety precautions...all of which they had in place
obviously something failed...i don't know what...causing the workers to fall between 35 and 40 feet. that fall alone is enough to potentially kill you because of the internal injuries that can occur. anything more than twice the patients height is considered significant...this was like 4 or 5 times
one worker walked away, the other not so much.
the injured worker broke both his legs...they were both compound fractures (yeah, that means bones are sticking out uke
that kind of injury needs surgery...like yesterday, so time is a big factor.
we extracted the patient off the mountain in the back of a truck (and yes, i gave him lots of pain drugs, so he was at least kind of comfortable). the ride down off the mountain took about 30 minutes. in a ground ambulance the ride to Fletcher Allen Health Care (the closest level one trauma center) would be an additional 45 minutes.
the helicopter got there in 9 minutes
you do the math

so there's my $0.02

So you are saying they were wearing fall protection and were tied off to the work basket. I am sure OSHA will be investigating this accident. if they were jacking the haul rope that the basket was suspended from I would count on being fined heavily by OSHA. They should have been tied off to the tower. Oh if all the safety precautions had been in place there would have been no injuries. So either the safety precautions were not be followed to the letter or your lacking in a few. All on the job injuries are preventable .. pure and simple.

 

[RootDKJ]

ok, so i just can't resist...i don't typically post on forums, but i though you all might like some of the "inside scoop" on this accident.
first off, i'm a ski patroller at stowe mountain resort (but i snowboard), and i work full time as a paramedic for the town of stowe, vermont...i was the paramedic that responded to this accident along with the volunteer ambulance crew.
the workers were doing maintenance on the lift which some times requires them replace or work on the shivs (which is probably spelt wrong). the shivs are the wheels on the sides of the lift towers that the cable rides on. they get old, wear out, stop spinning ect...
so to work on them they need to lift the cable up off of the shivs using various methods.
the workers are in a work basket (how appropriate) that rides on the cable the same way a chair does...it just allows them to cary tools, part ect. and climb up higher than a chair would. so there is the scenario. workers in the work basket thats on the cable that is being mechanically lifted off the tower, or shiv wheels. they literally get hight enough that the shiv wheels are about waist level. and yeah, this is how its done...the correct way...with lots of safety precautions...all of which they had in place
obviously something failed...i don't know what...causing the workers to fall between 35 and 40 feet. that fall alone is enough to potentially kill you because of the internal injuries that can occur. anything more than twice the patients height is considered significant...this was like 4 or 5 times
one worker walked away, the other not so much.
the injured worker broke both his legs...they were both compound fractures (yeah, that means bones are sticking out uke
that kind of injury needs surgery...like yesterday, so time is a big factor.
we extracted the patient off the mountain in the back of a truck (and yes, i gave him lots of pain drugs, so he was at least kind of comfortable). the ride down off the mountain took about 30 minutes. in a ground ambulance the ride to Fletcher Allen Health Care (the closest level one trauma center) would be an additional 45 minutes.
the helicopter got there in 9 minutes
you do the math

so there's my $0.02

Great 1st post. Hope you'll stick around!

 

[OldsnowboarderME]

correct, they were wearing fall protection and they were tied off to the work basket.
in all honesty, i know the mountain company is very strict with safety policies and procedures, so if there was a safer / better way for them to do this they would have been doing it.
and i am by no means an expert on lift maintenance, i am relaying what i have learned and observed. but if they had tied off to the tower i am quite confident that they would both be dead because that would put the cable between them and their fall protection attachment point which mean that cable would have torn them to pieces. don't under estimate the potential energy in the cable...its not only big and heavy (2 or 3 inch diameter), but loaded with chairs and tensioned.

injuries are preventable, yes. but if there is one thing i have learned in my line of work its that it is absolutely impossible to plan for every scenario and create safety procedures for every contingency. things are still going to go wrong, no matter how safe you may try to be.
and equipment does fail, things do break.

See you need to change the way you're thinking .. safety being planned into a job means thinking of all the things that could go wrong and making contingencies so they don't happen. Think about it .. they were jacking the thing they were depending on to keep them safe ( the way I understand it) .. Is there a safer way to do a job? Absolutely there is .. Accepting that things will go wrong or break and we will probably get injured when they do is totally unacceptable in my book and I hope your company does a thorough investigation and makes changes to the safety practices. Safety practices should be constantly evolving ( getting better)..

 

[OldsnowboarderME]

Safety on the job doesn't happen by accident ..

 

[billski]

Safety on the job doesn't happen by accident ..

I'm glad this is a mantra at your work. It makes me rest better when lying at the Salisbury beach. If your guys made a mistake, the numbers impacted would be in the millions, not just two workers. I doubt SMR ever wants to have an injury. But as iwont's reactor is a complex operation, lifts have come a long way since rope tows run by Billy-Bob and his old Chevy.

I guess the big difference here is that lifts are only a small, independent part of the overall mountain operation, having limited collateral damage. An accident in a reactor has huge consequences. I'm not condoning the lesser priority, just suggesting it's viewed by business managers as a less-critical/strategic element of the overall business. If reactors weren't 99.999999999999% safe, you wouldn't be in business. I agree,thinking of safety as the #1 concern should be a mind-set (written by someone who has expereinced the consequences).

 

[thetrailboss]

correct, they were wearing fall protection and they were tied off to the work basket.
in all honesty, i know the mountain company is very strict with safety policies and procedures, so if there was a safer / better way for them to do this they would have been doing it.
and i am by no means an expert on lift maintenance, i am relaying what i have learned and observed. but if they had tied off to the tower i am quite confident that they would both be dead because that would put the cable between them and their fall protection attachment point which mean that cable would have torn them to pieces. don't under estimate the potential energy in the cable...its not only big and heavy (2 or 3 inch diameter), but loaded with chairs and tensioned.

injuries are preventable, yes. but if there is one thing i have learned in my line of work its that it is absolutely impossible to plan for every scenario and create safety procedures for every contingency. things are still going to go wrong, no matter how safe you may try to be.
and equipment does fail, things do break.

Thanks for the inside scoop, resqjonny and hope to see you on here in the future with more inside info on the skiing and riding at Stowe. We have very few folks who post from Stowe, so your input is valuable.

 

[deadheadskier]

I'm glad this is a mantra at your work. It makes me rest better when lying at the Salisbury beach.

makes me sleep better at night

I live within the fall out zone of Seabrook.

 

[OldsnowboarderME]

makes me sleep better at night

I live within the fall out zone of Seabrook.

Nuclear Safety ..our personal safety is constantly drilled into our head. Before every job we do we ask ourselves what are the things that could go wrong and what have we done to prevent that from happening. We even track near misses as those are precursors to someone eventually getting hurt or something bad happening. We never allow ourselves to feel we have "arrived" when it comes to safety. I understand and take very seriously my responsibility to the public, my coworkers and myself when it comes to nuclear safety. I work in an environment where I am free to question any practice at the plant and I expected to stop any job where there is a safety concern or questions about about how we are doing it whether it be nuclear or personal. We are constantly seeking to improve. So all of you can sleep well.
In my job, getting a second chance usually means getting it right on my first attempt. The guy in the hospital is going to pay for what happen the rest of his life. All that needed to be asked was what is the worst thing that could happen .. the haul rope falling would have been high on that list.

 

[OldsnowboarderME]

Great 1st post. Hope you'll stick around!

Thanks for the inside scoop, resqjonny and hope to see you on here in the future with more inside info on the skiing and riding at Stowe. We have very few folks who post from Stowe, so your input is valuable.

I feel the same and we need more ski patrol safety input here .. there are some that still don't get it.

 

[OldsnowboarderME]

Can you tell I am passionate about safety ? ;-)

 

[snafu]

Can you tell I am passionate about safety ? ;-)

I was wondering why you seemed a bit anal when it comes to safety...but seeing you work at a nuclear facility I don't think you can be anal enough. One mistake and you could end up hosting rides this this:

http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter1.html

:-o

 

[RootDKJ]

Can you tell I am passionate about safety ? ;-)

Me to. 8 years as an EMT will do that to you

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I feel the same and we need more ski patrol safety input here .. there are some that still don't get it.

I agree!!!! We don't really have any ski patrollers posting on here...or over on www.paskiandride.com for that matter..

 

[Trekchick]

FWIW, I have a lot of risk management experience.
I would never speculate how or why this accident happened.
It could be any number of reasons from human error to equipment error, or a combination of both.
If this accident were on my turf I would be extremely guarded about the information that gets out unless or until an investigation is complete by the resort, OSHA, and insurance carrier.

Speculation, while fun banter on a message board, can be a disservice to all involved in the incident.

resqjonny, its good to see the balance in your post, however I'm not sure how much you should/can disclose.

I hope you stick around.

 

[billski]

I was wondering why you seemed a bit anal when it comes to safety...but seeing you work at a nuclear facility I don't think you can be anal enough. One mistake and you could end up hosting rides this this:

http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter1.html

:-o

I lived/visited there for two weeks in a small village. I declined to drink their water or eat from their garden....

 

[billski]

I agree!!!! We don't really have any ski patrollers posting on here...or over on www.paskiandride.com for that matter..

I believe all the patrollers like to hang at Epic.