Thursday, January 02, 2014

The Weekly Toll: Death in the American Workplace

Our hearts go out to the families left behind to deal with an unexpected loss.  If we can assist you in any way, please let us know!

December 2013

December 1 - Ferguson, NC - 72 year old Rob Roy Jones died on the job while working on his farm when an embankment he was driving his tractor near collapsed and the tractor overturned, crushing him. 

December 2 - Maybrook, NY - 53 year old Timothy Lang of Saugerties was killed on the job and two others injured when a retaining wall collapsed at a Halmar International construction site.

December 2 - Lorain, OH - 47 year old Steven DeSantis of Chardon was killed on the job when an industrial sized trash bin fell onto him. He was under the bin, partially on his truck, moving objects when the bin fell.  He was working at Mercy Regional Medical Center for Cotterman & Sons of Monteville.

December 2 - Roy, WA - 44 year old Steve Green died of suffocation after being buried in a corn grain silo collapse. He was employed by Wilcox Family Farm.  His body was not recovered until two days after.

December 3 - Glendale, AZ - 50 year old Douglas Elliot was murdered on the job when he was shot for an unknown reason while working as the maintenance manager for Glendale Commons apartments.

December 3 - College Station, TX - 25 year old Angel Garcia died on the job as the result of a fall from the fourth level of Kyle Field at A & M University. He was employed by Lindamood Demolition of Irving.

December 4 - Manhattan, KY - 63 year old Stephen Hetzler was killed on the job when he was struck by debris and rocks from an explosion at the Bayer Rock Quarry. Hetzler was standing very close to the detonation site.

December 4 - Independence, MO - 63 year old Manjit Nirwal, who is from Canada, was killed on the job in Independence when he was pinned between two semi trucks. He exited his tractor trailer rig it began to roll and as he tried to stop it, he was crushed.

December 4 - Conyers, GA - 31 year old Charles LeMasters of Covington died on the job when he was partially pulled into a conveyor belt. He was operating a machine that feeds wood chips onto a conveyor when his hand became caught and his arm was pulled into the system.  He unfortunately died of suffocation in the wood chips before he could be rescued. He was working for Pratt Industries.

December 4 - Avenell, NJ - 57 year old Ronald Smith of Irvington died when he was crushed between equipment at an Amazon.com sorting facility run by Genco. He was a temporary worker for Abacus. 

December 5 - Ramapo, NY - 56 year old Joseph Giarnella of Stoney Point was killed when his work vehicle crashed on a highway.  He was a contractor who owned J. Giarnella & Son.

December 5 - Old Town, ME - 32 year old Jon Atwood of Bangor died on the job when he fell from the roof of a construction project.  It is unclear who he was employed by.

December 6 - Negreet, LA - 66 year old William D. Branam of Many died while working on his farm. He was using a tractor moving hay bales when one rolled back onto the cab of the vehicle, crushing him.

December 6 - National Mine, MI - 61 year old Gary Hytinen of Ishpeming, a 39 year employee for Cliff's Natural Resources Tilden Mine, died on the job after falling from the top of a railroad tanker car.

December 7 - Jacksonville, FL - 56 year old Richard Ahlers, Sr. died after falling from the roof of a home he was working on for a private homeowner.

December 7 - South Jackson, WV - Charlie Pierson died of a heart attack as he was preparing to respond to a car crash call.  He was the South Jackson Volunteer Fire Chief. 

December 7 - Grass Valley, CA - 57 year old Robert "Farmer Bob" Keyser collapsed and died suddenly of a heart attack while loading a Christmas tree for a customer.  He was the owner of Farmer Bob's Produce.  

December 7 - Canton, OH - 51 year old Richard Wentling died on the job when he was crushed under a tour bus he was working under.  He was an employee with Alliance Tour Bus. 

December 9 - Fresno, CA - 52 year old Gilbert Acuna of Rialto died on the job when he was pinned between his tractor-trailer truck and a loading dock at an REI store at River Park. Authorities think the brakes may have failed after he exited the truck. 

December 9 - Schuyler, NY - 59 year old Wayne Johnson died after being pinned between the bucket of his tractor and scrap metal when the tractor rolled into him.  He was self employed.

December 9 - Boston, MA - 46 year old Marco Antonio Huezo Mancea, an immigrant from El Salvador, was killed on the job when he was struck and crushed by a falling 12,000 lb steel beam at Boston Bridge & Steel, Inc. in Boston. 

December 9 - Queens, NY - 23 year old Mauricio Edy Zambranovera died on the job while off-loading wood and other construction material from his truck at Sand & Gravel in Melville. He was found behind his City Recycling (of Brooklyn) truck and may have been struck by a large piece of the massive earth moving machines at the site.

December 9 - Lexington, KY - 51 year old Mukeshbhai Patel was shot to death during a robbery of the Marathon Gas Station he was working alone at.  The suspect has been arrested.

December 10 - Loudon, NH - 31 year old Ronald Schlegel of Hooksett was killed on the job when he was pinned between a scissor lift and an overhead door.  He was the logistics coordinator for Loudon's Pleasant View Gardens. 

December 10 - Cincinnati, OH - 82 year old Virgil Souder of Hebron, KY drowned after falling from a ferry into the Ohio River.  He was a deckhand for the unnamed ferry. 

December 11 - Athens, GA - 42 year old Michael Lancaster of Simpsonville, SC died on the job when he fell from the roof into a waster container at McLane, a wholesale grocery supplier.  He was discovered by another worker. It is unclear who Lancaster was employed by.

December 11 - Jarrettsville, MD - 32 year old Daniel Paul Dixon died after the roof of a barn collapsed onto him. He was working on the 2nd floor of the structure when the roof collapsed, trapping him in the rubble. It is unclear who he was working for.

December 12 - Abilene, TX - 57 year old Max D. Mitchell of Coleman died on the job after being struck by a garbage truck that backed into him.  He was employed by MCG Drilling and was struck by a City of Abilene vehicle.

December 13 - Randleman, NC - 61 year old Martin Soto Rodriguez was killed on the job when he became entangled and pulled into an extractor machine while working at Deep River Dyeing Company.

December 13 - Maybrook, NY - 50 year old Scott Winkler of Monroe has died after being injured December 2nd in a wall collapse while working for Halmar Construction.  

December 14 - Ashtabula, OH - 41 year old santos Medina de Jesus died of toxic suffocation and drowning when his tractor overturned into a manure lagoon on a dairy farm. 

December 17 - Moulton, TX - 45 year old Jose Torres of San Benito was killed on the job in an explosion of a tanker trailer at a GreenHunter Resources oil field site.  He was working inside the tanker trailer, holding a piece of metal for a welder on the outside of the trailer when the explosion occurred.  It is unclear who he was working for.

December 17 - Duanesburg, NY - 35 year old New York State Trooper David Cunniff was killed on the job when he was struck by a motorist. He was behind a vehicle he had pulled over when the other motorist struck his patrol vehicle from behind.

December 22 - Carpentersville, IL - 19 year old Stephanie L. Siers died on the job when she fell from the back of a work truck. She was employed by Tovar Snow Professionals of East Dundee.

December 23 - Billerica, MA - An unidentified worker was found dead inside an electrical closet at Nuvera Fuel Cells in Billerica.  Attempts to find the identity of the worker have been unsuccessful.

December 26 - Palos Park, IL - 25 year old Patrick J. O'Reilly was killed on the job when he was struck by falling concrete in a wall collapse. He was working for an unnamed company at a demolition site at the Westfield Hawthorne Mall.

December 26 - Orchard, TX - Eduardo Bravo of El Campo was killed on the job when he was pinned between a truck and well head at an Orchard well site. He was working with a crew preparing a rig when the truck lunged into him.  

December 27 - Spotsylvania, PA - 61 year old Mickey Wayne Jones was found shot to death behind the office building of his employer, Attkisson Truck and Equipment Sales. His death is being investigated as a homicide.

December 27 - Othello, WA - 57 year old Angel Pena Hernandez of Moses Lake died of natural causes while working for McCain Food USA, Inc. He was found slumped over the steering wheel of the potato truck he was in. 

December 28 - Columbus, OH - 76 year old Paul W. Stearns died after he fell from a ladder.  He was trimming trees when a branch fell onto him, knocking him off the ladder. He was working on his farm.

December 28 - Hamilton, IL - 53 year old James Drozdz died after the tractor trailer truck he was driving crashed at a highway ramp. He was driving truck for Dot Foods part time and was also a district attorney for Hancock County. 

December 29 - Mill Creek, WA - Salvador Ayala of Edmonds died of cardiac arrest a day after being taken to the hospital from his job.  He complained of dizziness and trouble breathing after using a chemical cleaning product and was seen and released from an area hospital.  He was employed by Los Compadres #6, Inc. dba Azteca Restaurant Mill Creek. 

December 30 - Silver Spring, MD - 47 year old Thomasine Maria Smith of Laurel died after she became pinned between her Metro bus and a wall.  Reports say she exited the bus to take a break when the bus began to roll. She apparently attempted to set the brake from outside the bus when she was pinned against the wall.

December 30 - Boston, MA - A 59 year old unidentified man from Melrose was killed on the tarmac of Logan International Airport after being hit by a truck that was traveling in reverse.  Attempts to locate the workers name or who he was employed with has been unsuccessful. 

December 30 - Princess Anne, MD - 73 year old Kenneth Jacob Beasley died when the dump truck he was operating was partially submerged in a ditch.  He was found by co-workers and flown to hospital where he died. He was working on private property but it is unclear who he was employed with.

December 31 - Normal, IL - 37 year old Darrin Condor of Bloomington died as the result of a second story fall at a construction site in Normal.  It is unclear who he was employed with. 

December 31 - Atlanta, GA - 59 year old AP Sports Photographer Dave Martin died of cardiac arrest while working the Chick-Fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome.  Martin was rushing onto the field to capture the celebration after the game when he collapsed on the field. 















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