The Lombardi Law Firm Blog

Creepy Crawly Class Action Certified in Bed Bug’s Treatment Case

Auger Accidental Deaths are Rare

Chemicals and Personal Injury Law

Lightning Strikes and Youth Sport Teams - Early Warning System

City lawn worker suffers serious injury in rollover lawnmower accident

City lawn worker suffers serious injury in rollover lawnmower accident

Maintenance Worker Falls Off UNI Dome Roof

Personal Injury Zoo News from around the world

Zoo News with lions, tiger, snakes and Denny Crane

The End of the Mowing Season

I love the fall season for the cooler weather, but just before fall starts, there is the end of summer blues.

With the end of the mowing season fall cleanup can’t be far behind. Getting all the summer equipment winterized and stored for winter is a signal that winter can’t be far off.

Robert Uhler died in early September while working on a utility tractor. Whatever happened pinned him underneath it. The local Sheriff concluded Mr. Uhler tried to start the tractor while not on it, the tractor lurched forward and he was killed. We wish his family well.

Mr. Uhler’s incident should remind us all that safety never takes a vacation. With the cold weather coming on it’s easy to get in a hurry or to rush to get jobs completed. As you can surely see we have to keep our heads about us while getting the season-ending work done. Stay safe, watch out, think and avoid unnecessary risk.

Mike the Gorilla climbs out of containment at South Carolina Zoo

A family from Greenville, visiting the zoo gets the surprise of their lives when they come face to face with Mike, a gorilla. What they saw was a gorilla on the loose. The woman in the video describes a second woman with a young boy in a stroller coming face to face with the escaped gorilla. The gorilla looks into the stroller and growls. The woman pushing the stroller shakes the stroller and the gorilla takes off.

Place: Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens in Columbus

What: A gorilla named Mike, temporarily escaped from its cage and for approximately five minutes walked around amongst the public. The general public was asked to either go inside buildings on the zoo grounds or the leave the park.

Why: The zoo hasn’t given an explanation.

COLUMBIA — A 390-pound gorilla grabbed some low-hanging bamboo Friday to scale a wall at Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens, escaping his enclosure and tackling a worker before returning to his pen about five minutes later.

The gorilla ran into a pizza-stand employee who curled up and played dead to try to avoid further injuries, officials said. The man, who works for Aramark Corp., was taken to a hospital and released a short time later with cuts and bruises.

When: Friday, June 12, 2009, sometime before noon.

Zoo Statement of Incident: June 12, 2009, PR Department

[Columbia, SC] - This morning, at 9:25am, one of the gorillas broke containment at Riverbanks Zoo.  Consistent with our safety protocols, the 325 guests visiting at the time were immediately escorted either out of the Zoo or into secure indoor buildings because public health and safety are our top priority.  Within five minutes, the gorilla was contained safely back in its exhibit.  Within 45 minutes, the Zoo was back in operation with business as usual. By this afternoon there were more than 2,000 visitors enjoying the park.  The gorillas are fine; although during the incident, one food service employee at the Zoo experienced minor injuries.  This employee was treated and released from the hospital several hours later.

There is a video taped interview of the woman who attempted to warn zoo goers, but she was pretty much ignored.

The Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens has three gorillas.

A silverback gorilla can be seen at 1:01 in the following YouTube video of the animals at the Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens.

Chimp Attack

Gorillas aggression with each other at the Wichita, KS Zoo

More gorilla aggressive play

Have you ever wondered what a gorilla looks like close up?

A 300 # Silverback Male Gorilla in the Congo Wilds – National Geographic footage showing an older and a younger males dominating behavior and intimidating size.

Police in San Francisco shoot tiger, zoo visitors are at risk, be aware

A 252-pound Siberian tiger was shot and killed by Police in San Francisco. It took four police officers with .40 caliber service revolvers to take down the best amongst the confusion of a highly volatile situation. Officers aren’t trained as grounds keepers but when the bell sounds they come out fighting.

There are around 140 million zoo visitors each year.

Over here at the Insider, we still are pretty awed by the performance of officers Scott Biggs, Yukio Oshita, Kevin O'Leary and Daniel Kroos. The men had little training to deal with any sort of escaped-animal emergency at the zoo -- let alone one involving a tiger -- and by all accounts, there was a lot of confusion among zoo staff. Not to mention they were staring down the 252-pound beast with just their .40 caliber service weapons.

The officers will be honored by the San Francisco Police Commission for their bravery on Feb. 4 at 6 p.m. at a special awards ceremony. We're still waiting for more information on the event, but we're sure there will be appropriate pomp and circumstance. Capt. Paul Chignell at the Taraval Station, where all four men were stationed during the event, called them "excellent" officers who did something utterly amazing. Biggs and Oshita are still at Taraval as plainclothes officers, while O'Leary walks the beat in that district. Kroos now works out of Mission Station.

This video tape shows the San Francisco Zoo tigers.

Tiger Attack After Escaping Cage at Columbus Zoo

Giraffes and zebras can kick a grounds keeper to death

In January it was reported that a zebra attacked a female giraffe in Lahore City Zoo killing it by kicking it to death. Zoo workers and visitors alike witnessed the attack that resulted in the giraffe’s death.

Workers, including cleaners coming into contact with these animals must always remain vigilant against injury or death caused by these wild animals as they tend to kick to kill.

Angry giraffes kick their way to freedom - BBC wildlife

Pet Advice and Dog Attacks Causing Injury and Death

Grounds Keeper Safety:

A groundskeeper in Singapore died after being mauled by two white tigers. Questions were raised about exactly how the cleaner came into contact with the tiger. It’s unclear from the report in World Zoo Today whether the cleaner deliberately entered the tigers’ confined space and taunted them or whether he fell into the moat. Perhaps he fell in and then did what we all see being done on stage in Las Vegas.

White Tiger at Singapore Zoo

Tampa Zoo has white tigers and recently had two cubs born to “Nikki”. In describing white tigers WZT states:

White tigers originate from Bengal tigers. They are not albinos and they are not a separate subspecies of tiger. They have blue eyes, a pink nose, and white fur covered with chocolate-colored stripes. White tigers are born to tigers that carry the unusual gene needed for white coloring.

Attack by White Tiger in Singapore Zoo

Wild white tigers are very rare, because their white coats provide poor camouflage, making them easily spotted by prey.

White tigers have been known to kill their own cubs.

Grounds keeping is a dangerous business, the work gratifying but dangerous.

Suicide by jumping into an animal’s caged space is not unheard of.

Another water tower fall by worker, but this time in Waterloo, Iowa.

We have previously reported on a maintenance worker falling from a water tower into the tower itself. Today we report on another incident in Waterloo, Iowa where the same thing occurred. This time it took an hour to rescue the man. The maintenance worker was sandblasting the inside of the water tower. His name or condition or injuries were not released. The man fell 30 feet so that would require a fall protection plan and harness.

Besides the Des Moines Register see KCCI News.

Midwest News Roundup II

WORKPLACE SAFETY REQUIRES A CLEAR HEAD AND THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND WHY: A lawyer in Hamilton County, Ohio told a jury that his client who sustained brain damage deserved to be awarded $62 million. The Cincinnati Press reports that, “a chemical company and owner of a railroad car should have to pay at least $62 million to a worker hurt when a 176-pound piece of metal blew off of a railroad car and caused a brain injury so catastrophic he can communicate only by raising or lowering one thumb, the worker's lawyers told a jury today.” A defective weld on a manhole cover allowed the cover to blow off and strike the unsuspecting worker. Common sense and a little thought should have indicated to whoever placed the manhole cover in place that it just might blow off.

BOAT OPERATOR RESPONSIBILITY: As story in the St. Louis Dispatch points out the importance of knowing the lake bottom and depth of the lake. Three men were reported to be seriously injured when the driver ran the boat aground at the 9 mile marker near Twin Island at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. Two of the boat occupants were hospitalized. Boat operators are legally responsible for their negligence while operating a water craft.

GANGS AND GUNS: The lights were almost out in Topeka, Kansas for a weary apartment maintenance worker. The Kansas news reporters for WIBW report on an apartment maintenance worker being shot over the noon hour by drive-by shooters. The location is the Oakbrook Apartments in the 3200 block of Twilight Court.

WORK PLACE SAFETY BEING IGNORED: Ansell, a major manufacturer of condoms launched National Construction Worker Hand Safety Month at the 2009 National Hardware Show. Ansell is the company that bought Hawkeye Glove in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Ansell spokespersons state: "In 2007 alone, the construction industry allocated nearly $400 million to disability spending for preventable hand injuries," said Sean Sweeney, senior market development manager for Ansell. "Furthermore, market research has indicated that despite OSHA mandates for personal protective equipment (PPE), an alarming number of construction workers continue to perform their work tasks barehanded, putting them at risk for costly and potentially devastating injuries." I wonder what the tort reform guy from the ATRA thinks of industry manufacturers talking about injuries and the alarming rate of the industry (including workers) ignoring safety regulations? Remember Tiger Joyce, the President of the American Tort Reform Association?

Construction Hand Safety Fast Facts

Hand, finger and arm injuries account for one third of all occupational injuries in the construction field.

Of these, 76% are related to preventable cuts and abrasions.

In 2007, the approximate cost per hand injury per construction professional was $17,000.

On average, preventable hand injuries resulted in five days on downtime per injured worker in the construction field.

CHEERING FOR TORT REFORM FOR IMPROVED SAFETY TO PROTECT TEENS: And in other news Biomedicine reports: CHAPEL HILL A new report on severe sporting injuries among high school and college athletes shows cheerleading appears to account for a larger proportion of all such injuries than previously thought. The latest annual report from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill-based National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research shows high school cheerleading accounted for 65.1 percent of all catastrophic sports injuries among high school females over the past 25 years. Hmmm… not much to cheer about here.

WASTING POLITICAL CAPITAL AND DIVERTING ATTENTION FROM REAL PROBLEMS: And in Missouri, the states attempt to stop homosexual marriages has run into a road block as a state senator drove with a few dozen people to Iowa to get married. KY-3 News reports that, “[a] Missouri state senator married her partner after traveling with more than a dozen other couples to Iowa, where same-sex marriage is legal. Sen. Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City, married Shonda Garrison, her partner of two years, at a ceremony in Iowa City, Iowa. Justus said it was one the best days of her life but also bittersweet. Missouri does not recognize same-sex marriages. A constitutional amendment, approved in 2004, states a marriage is between a man and a woman.”

DRIVER DISTRACTIONS AND PAYING ATTENTION: Students from Manchester, Iowa while riding the school bus to school were in for a shocker when a pickup truck crossed the center line, hitting the bus head-on. Two male passengers in the pickup truck died in the crash. Two children were reportedly injured and were taken to an area hospital.

RUNNING FROM THE LAW, HIT-AND-RUN: The second grader, which we previously reported on, is getting better after being struck near a school by an unidentified driver who left the scene and is being sought. It seems the unidentified driver has trouble here in that the injured boy is the son of an accident investigator for the Omaha Police Department. The injured boy is Jayden Anderson, 9, who is recovery at the Nebraska Medical Center. The car is described as a red four-door with a black stripe down both sides. Anyone with information is asked to call the Pottawattamie county sheriff's office at (712) 328-5737. KETV has this story. Might I suggest the driver see an attorney and arrange for turning yourself in before this gets out of hand.

TREASURE COAST COLLISION: In Florida’s Treasure Coast area of Palm Beach eight people were injured in a nine-car crash. Three vehicles under up on fire and an unlikely 18-year-old hero emerged from his pickup truck to pull people out of burning cars. The TC Palm reports that “Lt. Tim Frith of the Florida Highway Patrol said the accidents happened because Noah Schou, 23, of Deltona, failed to realize the traffic ahead of him had stopped and drove his 2004 flatbed truck into the back of Moreno’s 2000 Ford pickup, setting off the chain-reaction collision. Schou, who was uninjured, was charged with careless driving.”

BUILDING DESIGN DEFECTS: The Dallas Cowboys Football Team practice facility collapsed on May 2, 2009, paralyzing a scout and injuring 11 other people. CNN reports, “[m]eanwhile, the CEO of a company that makes similar buildings says he believes fewer people would have been injured if the Cowboys' facility had been supported by air rather than a metal frame. About 70 people -- including players, coaches, staff and media -- were inside the metal-framed structure for a rookie mini-camp practice when a line of heavy thunderstorms hit the dome. Video from the incident shows the lights swinging violently from the dome's ceiling seconds before the ceiling crashes to the ground. Players and coaches rushed to help those trapped. "It was as if someone took a stick pin and hit a balloon," said photographer Arnold Payne, who was shooting the practice for CNN affiliate WFAA-TV.” It was raining hard at the time of the collapse. You can watch video at the following link. I wonder if the tort reform guy blames this one on the lawyers?

FIRE AT UCLA LAB KILLS RESEARCH ASSISTANT/FAILURE TO PROPERLY TRAIN: UCLA was fined after a research assistant was burned over 43% of her body with second and third degree burns while occupying a chemistry lab that caught fire. She suffered for 18 days before dying. What was she doing? Sangji was transferring about two ounces of t-butyl lithium from one sealed container to another when a plastic syringe came apart in her hands, splashing her with a chemical compound that ignites instantly when exposed to air.

The resulting flash fire set ablaze her rubber gloves and synthetic sweater. The Los Angeles Times reports an investigation by “the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health concluded that Sheharbano "Sheri" Sangji, 23, had not been properly trained and was not wearing protective clothing when an experiment exploded, spreading second- and third-degree burns over 43% of her body. She died 18 days later.”

T-butyl lithium is a highly flammable compound. A more indepth discussion can be found on the Chemistry Blog by Mitch.

Update 1: More experimental details are coming out.

A 23 year old female research associate/laboratory technician intended to add an (unknown) aliquot of 1.6 M t-bu-Li (in pentane) to a round bottom flask, placed in a dry ice/acetone bath. She had been employed in the lab for about 3 months. The incident occurred on Dec. 29, during the UCLA holiday shutdown between Christmas and New Years. Researchers are granted permission to work during the shut down for “critical research needs.” There were two post doctoral researchers working in the lab and the adjacent lab, with limited English proficiency.

Maintenance worker killed misusing grounds keeping equipment

A municipal maintenance worker was killed when attempting to use a one inch hose with a pressure nozzle to clear out sand from a hole in which a light pole was being installed at a recreational ground. The worker, working for a municipality within the State of New Jersey was struck in the head by the metal nozzle.

The equipment used was not intended for the use and appears from the report to have swung wildly after the incident injuring other workers.

The lesson from this NIOSH fatality report is to use equipment for its intended use and in the manner for which it was manufactured. Also get the right training and read the user manuals.

Municipal Maintenance Worker Killed When Struck With the Steel Coupling of an Out-of-Control High Pressure Water Hose. This is an older case report dating back to December 1996.

Grounds Maintenance Safety: Zoo worker fails to follow correct procedure, Rufus dies from ruptured liver.

In what could have been a serious problem the groundskeepers resulted in the death of a 36-year-old rhinoceros at the Norfolk, Virginia zoo. Apparently male white rhinos are “notoriously aggressive with each other” and require safety precausions that keep them appart. When the groundskeeper failed to follow the correct procedures that maintained separation during the night the two rhinos began fighting resulting in a ruptured liver.  Rufus died as a result of his wounds.

Alfred, 40 remains healthy. Donations can be made directly to the Virginia Zoo.

As reported by Debbie Messina, The Virginia-Pilot

Financial Contributions can be made via the Virginia Zoological Society web site.

Ongoing financial support from the community is essential to Virginia Zoo's success and growth.

Virginia Zoological Society accepts tax-deductible cash contributions, gifts of appreciated securities, and gifts of goods and services on behalf of Virginia Zoo. Virginia Zoological Society is the official support organization for Virginia Zoo and is a non-profit organization under IRS 501 (c) (3). Gifts may be applied to our Annual Fund, Capital Campaign, Keeper Fund, Conservation & Research Fund, or may be designated by the donor for a specific use.

Monetary Contributions Virginia Zoological Society accepts monetary contributions year-round for our Annual Fund, Capital Campaign, Keeper Fund and Conservation & Research Fund. Monetary (paid via check or credit card) gifts may be mailed to:

Virginia Zoological Society
Development Department
3500 Granby Street
Norfolk, VA 23504-1329

Or Make a contribution online with a Visa, MasterCard or Discover card.