{"id":3903,"date":"2018-09-24T13:01:27","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T17:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/?p=3903"},"modified":"2018-09-24T13:01:27","modified_gmt":"2018-09-24T17:01:27","slug":"freak-accidents-how-to-tell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/","title":{"rendered":"Freak Accidents? How to Tell"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"freak\"Some people — especially journalists — sometimes falsely label workplace fatalities as “freak accidents” even when they’ve happened before and could have been prevented. But how can you tell? Here is a couple of handy examples:<\/p>\n

Freak Accident<\/h2>\n

2 teens arrested in killing of Burien grandmother by stray bullet<\/h3>\n

BURIEN, Wash. — Two teen boys have been arrested as the suspected gunmen in a\u00a0shooting that claimed the life of a receptionist<\/a>\u00a0at a Burien chiropractic office. Deputies say their two suspects, both 17, opened fire from a car on 152nd Street Wednesday evening, apparently targeting on a 39-year-old man who had just picked up his 15-year-old son on foot from Highline High School, according to Sgt. Ryan Abbott with King County Sheriff’s Office. The bullets missed their targets, but one stray bullet fatally struck 51-year-old Gabriela Reyes Dominguez, who was at the chiropractic clinic.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not<\/em> a Freak Accident<\/h2>\n

Construction Worker Killed in Freak Accident Near Broadway Junction<\/h3>\n

BUSHWICK \u2013 A construction worker was crushed to death in a freak accident<\/a> at a job site near Broadway Junction in Bushwick over the weekend, police confirmed. The accident took place around 3:00 pm on Saturday, March 10 at 1949 Broadway and Stewart Street. As a forklift was lifting a load of scaffolding pipes, the vehicle tipped over, crushing the 47-year old operator between the forklift and a flatbed truck, said police.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some people — especially journalists — sometimes falsely label workplace fatalities as “freak accidents” even when they’ve happened before and could have been prevented. But how can you tell? Here is a couple of handy examples: Freak Accident 2 teens arrested in killing of Burien grandmother by stray bullet BURIEN, Wash. — Two teen boys […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[173,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-freak-accident","category-journalism"],"yoast_head":"\nFreak Accidents? How to Tell - Confined Space<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What's a "freak accident" and what isn't. Here's some help.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Freak Accidents? How to Tell - Confined Space\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What's a "freak accident" and what isn't. Here's some help.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Confined Space\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-24T17:01:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/41285804464_7b80c1cb3e_o-300x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jordan Barab\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jbarab\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@jbarab\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jordan Barab\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/24\\\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/24\\\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jordan Barab\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bcc6bf185c17840824cfc3ef7522f3c5\"},\"headline\":\"Freak Accidents? How to Tell\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-24T17:01:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/24\\\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":232,\"commentCount\":3,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bcc6bf185c17840824cfc3ef7522f3c5\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/24\\\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/41285804464_7b80c1cb3e_o-300x300.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Freak Accident\",\"Journalism\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/24\\\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/24\\\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/24\\\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\\\/\",\"name\":\"Freak Accidents? How to Tell - Confined Space\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/24\\\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/24\\\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/41285804464_7b80c1cb3e_o-300x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-24T17:01:27+00:00\",\"description\":\"What's a \\\"freak accident\\\" and what isn't. Here's some help.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/24\\\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/24\\\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/24\\\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/41285804464_7b80c1cb3e_o-300x300.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/41285804464_7b80c1cb3e_o-300x300.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/24\\\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Freak Accidents? How to Tell\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/\",\"name\":\"Confined Space\",\"description\":\"A newsletter of workplace safety and labor issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bcc6bf185c17840824cfc3ef7522f3c5\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bcc6bf185c17840824cfc3ef7522f3c5\",\"name\":\"Jordan Barab\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":267,\"caption\":\"Jordan Barab\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg\"},\"description\":\"Jordan Barab was OSHA Deputy Assistant Secretary from 2009-2017. He ran AFSCME's health & safety program from 1982-98. He also worked at the House Education and & Labor Committee (2007-2009, 2019-2021) and the Chemical Safety Board.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/jordan-barab-81b0218\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/jbarab\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/author\\\/jbarab\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Freak Accidents? How to Tell - Confined Space","description":"What's a \"freak accident\" and what isn't. Here's some help.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Freak Accidents? How to Tell - Confined Space","og_description":"What's a \"freak accident\" and what isn't. Here's some help.","og_url":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/","og_site_name":"Confined Space","article_published_time":"2018-09-24T17:01:27+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/41285804464_7b80c1cb3e_o-300x300.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Jordan Barab","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jbarab","twitter_site":"@jbarab","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jordan Barab","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/"},"author":{"name":"Jordan Barab","@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/#\/schema\/person\/bcc6bf185c17840824cfc3ef7522f3c5"},"headline":"Freak Accidents? How to Tell","datePublished":"2018-09-24T17:01:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/"},"wordCount":232,"commentCount":3,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/#\/schema\/person\/bcc6bf185c17840824cfc3ef7522f3c5"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/41285804464_7b80c1cb3e_o-300x300.jpg","articleSection":["Freak Accident","Journalism"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/","url":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/","name":"Freak Accidents? How to Tell - Confined Space","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/41285804464_7b80c1cb3e_o-300x300.jpg","datePublished":"2018-09-24T17:01:27+00:00","description":"What's a \"freak accident\" and what isn't. Here's some help.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/41285804464_7b80c1cb3e_o-300x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/41285804464_7b80c1cb3e_o-300x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2018\/09\/24\/freak-accidents-how-to-tell\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Freak Accidents? How to Tell"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/","name":"Confined Space","description":"A newsletter of workplace safety and labor issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/#\/schema\/person\/bcc6bf185c17840824cfc3ef7522f3c5"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/#\/schema\/person\/bcc6bf185c17840824cfc3ef7522f3c5","name":"Jordan Barab","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg","url":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg","width":400,"height":267,"caption":"Jordan Barab"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg"},"description":"Jordan Barab was OSHA Deputy Assistant Secretary from 2009-2017. He ran AFSCME's health & safety program from 1982-98. He also worked at the House Education and & Labor Committee (2007-2009, 2019-2021) and the Chemical Safety Board.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jordan-barab-81b0218\/","https:\/\/x.com\/jbarab"],"url":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/author\/jbarab\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8s1ZU-10X","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3903"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3904,"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3903\/revisions\/3904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}