Tuesday, October 22, 2013

The Weekly Toll: Death in the American Workplace

We grieve with you because we have similar experiences.  We are a community of loved ones who are here to listen; to help; we feel your pain.  Please let us know how we can help you.

October 1, 2013 - Huntley, IL - 59 year old Marco O. Aguilar of Steamwood was killed on the job as he worked for McHenry County Conservation District's Pleasant Valley Conservation Area.  He was working inside a maintenance building when he was struck by a vehicle being prepared to work on a concrete floor.

October 1 - South Bend, WA - Alfred Piercy died of natural causes related to the heart while he worked for J A Jack and Sons.  He was found unconscious inside the cab of his work truck.

October 1 - Syracuse, NY - 38 year old Shqair Shqair (pronounced shur-kahr) was shot during a robbery at Sabatino's Pizza restaurant that he owned along with his wife.   He died later at hospital.

October 2 - Lewistown, PA - 36 year old Randell A. Wert of Newville and 71 year old Kermit F. Wells of Newburg died on the job of head trauma when they were struck by a falling tree they were cutting.  Both were loggers but it is not clear who they were working for.

October 2 - Carrollton, TX - 48 year old Todd Edward Fenton was found shot to death while working at the bus barn for Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent Schoot District (CRBISD) and was discovered by another employee.  He was supervisor of landscaping and maintenance for the district. It appears to be a case of workplace violence as police are seeking a co-worker for Fenton's murder. 

October 2 - Odessa, MO - 53 year old Michael D. Ray died on the job when the farm tractor he was driving rolled over and onto him.  The incident happened as he was driving across a dam embankment.

October 3 - Center Point, IA - 56 year old Roger Bach died while working in the feed lot of a farm.  The incident involved a skit loader machine but no details are given.  

October 3 - Newton, IA - 42 year old Thaddeus W. Hummel died after he was crushed under a piece of equipment at a salvage yard.  He was contracted by Car County Auto Salvage to work on a boom truck and somehow the arm of the boom fell onto him. 

October 3 - Solebury, PA - 64 year old Joseph Matejik suffered fatal crushing injuries when he was trapped between a forklift and tractor-trailer. He was using the forklift to unload a delivery on the tractor-trailer but after he got off the forklift, it moved forward, pinning him against the other.

October 4 - Brewer, ME - 50 year old Michael Campbell died on the job after he fell 50 feet from a pine tree he was working in.  His climbing line became entangled in the top portion of the tree that he had cut, and he was pulled down as the section fell. He was working for Campbell's Tree Service. 

October 4 - Collierville, TN - 42 year old John Shelley was working on a vacant home when he was robbed and shot death.  He was self employed.  This report states three teens have been arrested and charged with his murder. 

October 5 - Port Lavaca, TX - 21 year old Cody Cowan was killed when the wrecker truck he was driving went off the roadway after he lost control of the truck.  He was self employed with Cody's Wrecker Service. 

October 6 - Washington, DC - Melvin Lewis died on the job of asphyxiation after a toxic exposure to Freon gas while working in a mechanical room on an air conditioner at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in DC.  Four other workers were taken to the emergency room due to the same exposure. 

October 6 - Washington, DC - 41 year old Harold Ingram of Richmond, VA was killed on the job and other injured, when he was struck by a large piece of track rail that was dislodged after an explosion inside the Red Line tunnel near Union Station during maintenance of the track system.  He was an employee for the Illinois based Holland Company, who was contracted by the transit authority.

October 6 - Hansen, ID - 58 year old Salvador Centeno of Kimberly died at hospital after the farm tractor he was driving was struck from behind by the driver of a truck pulling a livestock trailer. 

October 6 - Paducah, TX - 34 year old Joshua Fitts of Hurricane, UT, a helicopter pilot, was killed when his chopper crashed after the tail rotor hit pulley equipment while trying to connect to a power line.  His employer is not named.

October 7 - Dania Beach, FL - 53 year old Joseph Frantz was killed on the job when the taxi he was driving collided with a pick up truck that caused a horrific accident.  He was employed by Friendly Cab. 

October 7 - Dallas, TX - 33 year old Antral Franklin, of Balch Springs and the manager for Williams Chicken eatery, was shot to death by an employee who he had earlier reprimanded for being late for his work shift.  The suspect, who has been arrested, left the restaurant, only to return later with a gun.

October 7 - Corona, CA - 34 year old Rolondo Anaya of Anaheim was killed on the job while working for RJ Noble Company in Corona.  He was caught in a conveyor belt and pulled into an asphalt grinder machine.

October 7 - Murraryville, IL - 69 year old Gary Clark died after an incident while working on a grain harvest.  He was working for an unknown trucking company and fell from the back of a trailer that was taking in grain from a combine.  After falling, he got up and walked around the truck before collapsing.  

October 7 - Harvey, ND - 21 year old Alex Rall was killed on the job when he was struck on the head by a falling piece of equipment.  He was working for Hope Electric at Prairie Towers Grain Elevator.  A crew was using a crane to lift a distributor unit when a piece of the metal grain chute fell, striking Rall as he was leaving the job site for the night. 

October 8 - Eastchester, NY - 42 year old Nicholas Farella suffered fatal crushing injuries he received on the job.  He was riding on the back of a Eastchester Department of Public Works garbage truck when the truck driver backed up striking a utility pole and Farella was pinned against it. 

October 8 - Gilman, IL - 47 year old Vaughn Borchers was killed while working on his farm when he was somehow pulled into the corn head of his combine machine. 

October 8 - Edinburg, NY - 69 year old Richard LaPort died after being struck and run over by a truck driven by his boss.  He was working along the shoulder of a recently paved roadway when his boss backed his truck up, striking LaPort.  He was employed by Saratogo County Town of Edinburg Highway Department.

October 8 - Florence, WI - 43 year old Dean G. Larsen was electrocuted while working on a power line in Fern, WI.  He was employed by Florence Utilities. 

October 8 - Alabaster, AL - 42 year old Samuel Edward Lowe was killed on the job when a backhoe he was operating tumbled down an embankment.  He was employed by a contractor working for Alabama Power and was using the backhoe to clear cut and push debris when it rolled down the embankment, crushing him.

October 8 - Millersburg, OH - 56 year old Paul Schweitzer of Massillon died after being involved in a work site incident involving a spring loading machine while working for Wayne Dalton's Mount Hope plant.  No other details are provided. 

October 9 - Washington Parish, LA - 55 year old Hillary Owens of Tickfaw was killed on the job when he was crushed under a heavy metal loading ramp.  It appears he was a logging, helping to unload logging equipment when the loading ramp fell onto him. 

October 9 - Andrews, SC - 24 year old Donald Scott has died after being injured weeks ago due to an explosion inside an underground tank of a gas station near Boston.  He and another man were re-lining the tank when something caused the explosion.  Scott and the coworker were employed by Tank Tech out of Missouri.

October 9 - Mt. Pleasant, TX - 53 year old Curtis Russell Guest of Pittsburg, TX was electrocuted while working on electrical equipment at Priefert Ranch Manufacturing plant in Mt. Pleasant.  

October 9 - Killdeer, ND - 25 year old Ryan Lee Provancher of Dickinson died of toxic gas exposure while working at an oil pumping site near Killdeer.  He and another man were working to replace pipes inside a building when one of the pipes broke loose sending out a cloud of hydrogen sulfide gas.  The co-worker escaped but realized Provancher had not followed him out of the building.  He died later at an area hospital. 

October 10 - Piedmont, MO - 38 year old Clinton Gary Million died after being crushed under a bobcat that overturned.  He was operating the bobcat while working for German's Recycling Center.  It is unclear how the machine overturned.

October 10 - Main Pass, LA - 47 year old Patrick Becnel of Palquemines died in the crash of a helicopter he was flying.  Becnel, working for Panther Helicopters, was transporting offshore oil rig workers who were off shift when it crashed on take off. Two of the rig workers were injured in the crash. Becnel was also owned Becnel's Citrus Company. 

October 11 - Springfield, MO - 62 year old John Bradford, an elephant handler for the Dickerson Park Zoo, was fatally injured by an elephant he was attempting to move into a chute.  The animal, a little skiddish, pushed into Bradford as it entered the chute, crushing him.  The zoo is not blaming Patience, the elephant, for Bradford's death.

October 11 - Humboldt, IA - 81 year old harold Henry Hinners died after his farm tractor was struck by a semi truck.  As Hinners was attempting to make a turn on a road, the semi driver attempted to pass him and the two vehicles collided.

October 11 - Mer Rouge, LA - Joseph Hill, of Port Allen died on the job after he fell into an auger at Big River Rice and Grain Plant in Mer Rouge. 

October 12 - Los Alamos, CA - 36 year old Roberto Garcia of Bakersfield died on the job when a large platform extension fell at an oil field site, although it is unclear how he was injured. He was a roughneck for Key Energy Services.

October 13 - Phoenix, AZ - 22 year old Richard Allen Bankston, a maintenance worker for Nueva Vista Apartments, was attacked with an object by a resident of the apartments.  The motive is not clear but the suspect and Bankston got into a physical argument and Bankston was found in the pool.  He later died of his injuries at hospital.  The suspect was later arrested.

October 14 - Santa Clara, CA - 60 year old Edward Erving Lake III of Vacaville was crushed under a bundle of rebar that was being unloaded from his truck.  He died later at hospital.  He was working for Gerdau Ameristeel's Napa Reinforcing Steel facility and was making the delivery to the under construction Levi Stadium. 

October 14 - Glenwood, MN - 37 year old Trevor Pederson died on the job when he was crushed under a large cargo dolly that he was building at Clyde's Machine's. 

October 15 - Moses Lake, WA - 34 year old Steve Weil of Quincy was killed on the job as he was working for his employer, Simplot Soilbuilders, to prepare soil at Friehe Farms.  He walked into a field and attempted to climb on board a tractor driven by another man when he fell and was run over by the rear tire of the machine.

October 15 - Las Vegas, NV - 64 year old James Calvin Perkins was killed on the job when the concrete truck he was driving crashed and burst into flames.  Perkins, employed by Nevada Ready Mix, ran into orange construction cones causing it to rolled onto concrete barriers and catch on fire.  He died of carbon monoxide intoxication.

October 15 - Thorp, WA - 37 year old Shawn Tolbert of Cle Elum was killed on the job when he was pinned between the backhoe he had been operating and its stabilizer arm. It appears he dismounted the machine, may have put a chunk of metal on the foot pedal of the machine and the boom arm swung to the side, pinning him.  He was employed by Level Best, Inc.















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