Emergency calls from US Magnesium workers show a disorganized emergency response. Callers seemed confused about how to interact with dispatchers and often lacked crucial information.
Callers seemed confused about how to interact with dispatchers and often lacked crucial information.The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune, with support from the
After a tense delay he reported back that she had stopped seizing and was awake. Then the connection suddenly became distorted, only every other syllable coming through. Not until the connection stabilized was the dispatcher able to tell him that ambulances were on their way. “Over the last five years, we have had only three cases where county dispatch was contacted for assistance regarding a work-related injury,” the company said noting the facility had lower injury rates than comparable industries.
Nic Wurzer worked at the US Magnesium facility for eight months between 2022 and 2023. He recalled getting “gassed out” by an accidental release of chlorine. He needed to be put on oxygen at the facility, but no ambulance was called. Instead, when his oxygen levels stabilized, he was required to go back to work, he said.Emergency dispatch is a highly disciplined and organized system meant to respond to moments of chaos and uncertainty.
In an even more serious event, a mobile boiler exploded at the company’s magnesium facility in March of 2022, knocking a contractor unconscious. Dispatchers could get few answers to their initial questions and did not know if everyone was out of danger, if the area was on fire, or the extent of injuries. Eventually, word came back to dispatchers that the contractor had a massive laceration on his head.
In its statement US Magnesium stressed that the company “does require employees and contractors to wear approved hard hats.” When he got “gassed out,” he said he was so smogged in by chlorine he couldn’t see his own hand in front of his face. But that didn’t stop supervisors from putting him back to work, he said, as soon as his oxygen levels stabilized.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, chlorine is very harmful in high doses or over long periods of time. It can also afflict individuals with a chronic type of asthma known as reactive airways dysfunction syndrome. “You get questioned all the time, not because you are doing it wrong but to make sure you’re doing it right,” Bear said.
It was a grueling and dangerous job and Wurzer says he only really did it for the pay. But for that matter, he said, the company’s response after his exposure left him feeling that’s all US Magnesium cared about as well.Kenneth Solomon is a consultant and forensic scientist at the California-based Institute of Risk and Safety Analyses; he previously worked at the RAND Corporation in the Department of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
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