Thursday, March 19, 2015

The Weekly Toll: Death in the American Workplace

Our thoughts and best wishes are with the families and friends who have lost a loved one to a work related incident. Please know we are here to offer guidance, resources and advocacy. Feel free to contact us if we can be of any help to you.

February 26, 2015 - Sarasota, FL - 24 year old Jonathan M. Dennis of Sanford was fatally crushed by a scissor lift as he worked inside an old movie theater at a mall in Sarasota. He was employed by Creative Environmental Services of Orlando, a subcontractor for Gerardi Construction, Inc.

March 2, 2015 - Dallas, TX - 54 year old David Frank Ostang was a mechanic of 30 years for American Airlines. He was closing and locking down the door of a Boeing 767 plane when he somehow slipped and fell from the jet bridge. He was also a member of the Transport Workers Local 591.

March 2 - Johnstown, PA - 38 year old Janice Livingston was a paramedic for West End Ambulance Services when she was struck and killed in the line of duty. She died in the last of a sequence of three crashes that took place in Upper Yoder Township. After a chain reaction of crashes occurred a coal truck came down the icy road and plowed through the emergency scene. The coal truck road the guardrail in an unsuccessful effort to stop. 

March 3 - Sharonville, OH - 70 year old Manuel Aquino of West Chester was fatally crushed by equipment while working for Art's Equipment Rental. He was working with a front-end loader when he became trapped between the bucket on the piece of equipment and the machine itself. 

March 3 - Kanawha, TX - 32 year old Paul Chelius of Paris went missing on The Circle C Ranch in Red River County and was later found dead inside a grain elevator silo. He had apparently fallen into the silo.  

March 3 - Campti, LA - 42 year old David Scott Long was working with a crew at the International Paper's Red River paper mill when he fell from scaffolding. His harness became entangled in a machine, causing him to fall. He was an employee for the Boch Group. 

March 5 - North Philadelphia, PA - 30 year old Robert Wilson III was a member of the Philadelphia Police Department when he was fatally shot during a robbery at a local store. Wilson was at a Game Stop store while on duty to do a "security check" and to buy a gift for his 8-year-old son, who was being rewarded for doing well in school. A shoot out ensued after two men, intending to rob the store, encountered Wilson. The suspects were later captured and charged for Officer Wilson's death.

March 5 - Brownsville, TX - Vidal Garcia, a US Navy veteran, was working his normal shift at Galaxy Bowling Center when he was killed on the job. He was working behind the bowling lanes when his shirt became entangled in the machine that picks up bowling pins. 

March 6 - St. Louis, MO - 52 year old Ronald Rector of Linn was piloting an ARCH Air Medical helicopter when it crashed. He was the only person on board and was heading to pick up another crew after having dropped off a crew and patient. The cause of the crash is not clear.

March 6 - York, PA - 63 year old Stanley Foller was killed on the job while working for New York Wire Company. He died of asphyxiation when a spool of wire weighing several thousand pounds fell on his chest.

March 7 - Coney Island, NY - 31 year old Toni Jackson, a New York City Housing Authority maintenance worker died on the job from an apparent fall. She was found unconscious next to a trash compactor in the basement of a building that is part of the Coney Island Houses. She was rushed to a local hospital but did not recover.

March 9 - Cameron, WV - 45 year old John M. "Mike" Garloch of Neffs, OH was working in a Murray Energy mine when he was struck by falling rock as the mine roof collapsed. He was an assistant longwall coordinator. Other injured workers were released from the hospital. 

March 9 - Moreno Valley, CA - 27 year old Kyle Sebulsky, an employee for Road Builders, Inc. was driving an earth mover truck performing roadway services for Burbank City at it's Landfill No 3 when he was killed on the job. The truck lost traction and rolled down an embankment, causing Sebulsky to be thrown from the truck and down the embankment.

March 10 - Upton County, TX - Three members of one family were killed on the job during an oil rig explosion and fire. Rojelio Salgado, Arturo Martinez, Sr. and Arturo Martinez, Jr., all from Andrews, TX, were working for the independent contractor Mason Well Services at an oil rig owned by Parsley Energy. The cause of the explosion is not clear.

March 10 - Santa Rosa Sound, FL - A Louisiana National Guard helicopter was performing training activities when, during thick fog, it crashed into the water. Following are the military men who perished in the crash.
Members of the Louisiana National Guard:
37 year old Chief Warrant Officer and pilot George Wayne Griffin, Jr. of Delhi, LA
44 year old Chief Warrant Officer George David Strother of Alexandria, LA
40 year old Staff Sergeant Lance Bergeron of Thibodaux, LA and
Staff Sergeant Thomas Florich of Fairfax, VA 
Members of the 2nd Special Operations Battalion of the Marine Corp Special Operations Command out of Camp Lejeune, NC:
33 year old Master Sergeant Thomas Saunders of Williamsburg, VA
33 year old Staff Sergeant Liam Flynn of Queens, NY
29 year old Staff Sergeant Trevor P. Blaylock of Lake Orion, MI
Staff Sergeant Kerry Michael Kemp of Port Washington, WI
26 year old Staff Sergeant Andrew Seif of Holland, MI and
27 year old Staff Sergeant Marcus Bawol of Warren, MI

March 11 - Brent, AL - Keith Leverette was killed on the job when an explosion and fire occurred at the Brent Industries plant in Brent. Several other workers were injured in the explosion. Other employees say they make refurbished gloves at the plant and that a cleaning process requires the use of hazardous chemicals. Several of the employees told authorities that a combination of static electricity in the washing and drying section plus those chemicals could have sparked this explosion.

March 12 - Kansas City, MO - 23 year old Colton R. Frisbee was a painter working with others at  Precise Paint Systems in Grain ValIey, Mo when the lift they were working from became unstable. As the scissor lift became unstable to the point of tipping Frisbee jumped from the lift but it unfortunately fell onto him, pinning him. It is unclear who their employer was. 

March 12 - Eufaula, OK - Matt Mathews was killed and two other were injured when their Eagle Med helicopter crashed in Eastern Oklahoma. Matthews was the pilot of the helicopter. The cause of the crash is unknown at the time.

March 12 - Medina, WA - 34 year old Joe Arrants was working at a construction site for the new SR 520 bridge across Lake Washington when he fell from the structure. He fell off the edge of a bridge deck about 60 to 70 feet to the ground. Authorities investigating say it appears that his self-retracting lanyard broke during the initial fall from the platform.He was employed by Kiewit General Manson.

March 13 - Forest City, NC - 27 year old Blake Tyler Luckadoo of Rutherfordton died on the job after being thrown from a piece of heavy equipment. He was an operator for Sisk Grading preparing a site for the county. He was found unresponsive next to the machine.

March 13 - Utica, NY - 23 year old Donald R. Frendenburg had just taken his service oath as a New York State Trooper three days prior to his death on the job. During a basic-training run, in his second week of training, he collapsed. He later died at an area hospital.





























2 comments:

interested said...

How can you be contacted about one of these deaths? How can an employer be unable to be identified?

Tammy Spivey, Founder said...

You can reach me at tammy@usmwf.org if you have any concerns. I would address it now but I really have no clue what you are asking.

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