A recycling plant worker was slicing open bales of plastic bags as they went by him on a conveyor. He slipped and fell onto the conveyor. He was carried along the conveyor and buried under piles of plastic. Co-workers couldn’t get the emergency shut-off switch to work and were unable to stop the conveyor before the victim suffocated.

Investigators looking into this fatality issued reminders that emergency shut-off switches should be functioning correctly and easily accessible to co-workers and bystanders. Do you know how to turn off machinery in a workplace emergency?

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