Fatality: grinder incident

A fatality occurred during preparation of surfaces for welding. A welder was using an angle grinder for the preparation work when the disk of the grinder disintegrated. The hand-held angle grinder was fitted with a 230mm diameter cutting-off wheel, and when it disintegrated, fragments penetrated the victim’s chest and abdomen. He was taken to hospital by rescue helicopter but died the same day. The investigation showed that the angle grinder and cutting disk were not compatible and that the angle grinder had not been fitted with a guard The company involved has reiterated that grinding machines should always be used […]