Allegheny County Treatment Plant Worker Asphyxiated In Pit

What is it about the suburbs north of Pittsburgh and industrial fatalities lately? (See post below and on July 23.) A worker at the wastewater treatment plant in Sewickley died yesterday after being overwhelmed by some sort of gas and falling 20 feet. Three co-workers who were in a shaft with the victim were treated at a hospital. (http://www.timesonline.com/bct_news/news_details/article/1373/2010/july/29/one-killed-three-injured-at-sewickley-wastewater-treatment.html)

Robert Full, Allegheny County’s chief of emergency services, was quoted by the Beaver County Times. “When you’re working in a confined situation like that, it can be very, very dangerous.”

During my years of communications in the chemical industry, I remember well the confined space training that everyone who may find themselves in confined spaces had to take. Cleaning out large tanks was common. Always, there was somebody on the outside keeping watch. The company used instruments to measure any toxic gases that may have remained. And if there was any risk, self-contained breathing apparatus was always available. According to the Times, the workers were performing "routine maintenance." There's nothing routine about entering confined spaces. People at the Sewickley wastewater plant are going to have a lot of explaining to do.

So far, the borough isn't talking, at least not through its website (http://www.sewickleyborough.org). Borough Manager Kevin Flannery answered questions from reporters. But I have to believe someone was on the phone to legal counsel right away. Why not to crisis communications counsel? I would recommend that the borough council president and Flannery both issue statements of regret, sympathy, and commitment to investigate the cause so nothing like this ever happens again. Some statement of mourning needs to go on the website. Someone from the treatment plant needs to go to nearby Baden to offer support and assistance to the man's widow and his 18-month-old daughter. Someone needs to to keep tabs on the injured employees and their families to determine their needs.

To be fair, Sewickley may be doing most of these things. I can't tell from any news articles or the borough's website. But my point remains the same. In a sudden crisis like this, organizations need to be calling someone with crisis communications expertise just as fast as they call the solicitor or other legal advisers. Maybe someone in Sewickley government has called someone for communications advice. I just know my phone hasn't rung yet.