Worker fatally mauled by brown bear

Details

• Personal Author:
  Beller, Michael ; Choromanski, Deborah
• Corporate Authors:
  Alaska Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Project (Alaska FACE) ; Alaska. Division of Public Health. Section of Epidemiology. Occupational Injury Prevention Program
• Description:
  A worker was killed when he was mauled by a brown bear. The attack occurred while the victim and other members of a six-man crew were setting recording lines and sensors for a seismic exploration project. The crew was walking down a flagged trail, unaware that a bear den was approximately 40 feet away. As they passed the den, the bear emerged and attacked the victim. A co-worker, walking behind the victim, climbed a nearby tree and yelled a warning to the other workers. After attacking the victim, the bear went to a tree that another crewmember had climbed, stood up to paw at the worker's foot, and then walked away. After the bear left, co-workers radioed for medical assistance. A helicopter brought an emergency medical technician to the area. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Based on the findings of the investigation, to prevent similar occurrences, employers should: 1. Ensure that workers receive training prior to starting field work to recognize bear den habitat and react appropriately to animal encounters
  
  additional training should be provided as needed to supplement techniques and knowledge
  
  2. Schedule daily flights over work areas to assess site conditions before sending crews into the field
  
  3. Consider having a person with wilderness training and experience on each crew to evaluate habitat for potential den sites and assist crewmembers in field safety issues
  
  4. Consider providing animal deterrents such as pepper spray or air horns and training in their proper use and storage to all personnel that perform duties in remote areas.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Animals Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-prevention Injuries Injury-prevention Occupational-accidents Occupational-hazards OSHA Region 10 Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-practices Training Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-environment Work-practices

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• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE98AK006
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  7 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20026910
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2011-100737
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 98AK006, 1998 Jul ; :1-7
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1998
• Performing Organization:
  Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  21 - Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1991/09/30
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6fa96ba915ae836b3521a206f158cf67d5ec41958a788008a205a46427e9c49dc16a14d07c2bd25c69baf7dc52d06ccee387b2a0127cf1efe7d9cbd9b64e7fda
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/169104/cdc_169104_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 23.24 KB ]