Weekly Toll: How Workers Die

How workers died last week: Trench collapse, quarry collapse, crushed a jeep plant, falls, vehicle incidents, drowning, shooting. On average, over 100 workers are killed every week in the United States due to traumatic injuries suffered at work. More than 20 times as many die from occupational diseases, many due to exposure to hazardous substances many years before they died. The few narratives below (gathered from almost 100 Google News searches) do not come close to capturing the full toll that work takes on the working people of this country. Nevertheless the accounts below gave you a taste of the preventable carnage occurring in workplaces across the country every day.

Construction Worker Killed In Trench Collapse In Cleveland

Cleveland, TN — Tennessee’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) is investigating the deadly trench collapse that happened Thursday in Cleveland. The collapse claimed the life of a worker at Dillard Construction who was nine feet below the surface. Coworkers tried to rescue the man, but were unable to. The rescue operation moved into a recovery phase once first responders determined the victim was no longer alive. TOSHA explained to Local 3 News that an investigator was sent to the site to begin the inquiry that will determine the circumstances that led to the worker’s death. Typically, the site is surveyed, company records are examined and interviews are conducted.

Worker dead after quarry wall collapses on excavator in Sterling

STERLING, MASS. (WHDH) – A worker died Thursday after part of a quarry wall collapsed onto his excavator, the Worcester County District Attorney’s office said. The collapse happened near 8 a.m. at an Onyx Corporation quarry in the area of Chocksett Road and Stone Crest Way. Police and fire officials responded, the DA’s office said, crews used camera equipment to assess the scene and “determined there were no signs of life.” Brian Curtis Derby, 67, of Townsend, who had been operating the excavator was pronounced dead at 8:39 a.m., according to the DA’s office. SKY7-HD was over the scene shortly before 11 a.m. and spotted the excavator buried under a massive pile of rocks inside the quarry. Three other excavators were parked nearby. Elsewhere in the quarry, a group of workers gathered behind a line of yellow caution tape. “It was a wall or a piece of the ledge or something that fell off the side of the hill and hit the machine the man was driving,” said Terry Heinold, who knows many of the workers at the quarry. “That’s all I know.”

Worker crushed to death at a Jeep plant, authorities say

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG/Gray News) – A person is dead after an incident at the Jeep complex in Ohio. Police confirmed the death Wednesday afternoon. Officials with Toledo Fire and Rescue said the 53-year-old Antonio Gaston was crushed. Additional circumstances surrounding the death are unconfirmed at this time, but workers at the assembly complex said it happened where Jeep Gladiators are made. A spokesperson for Stellantis, Jeep’s parent company, said they are aware of an incident involving one of its employees, but couldn’t provide additional details while the investigation continues.

Illinois Man Killed in Industrial Accident in Milford

MILFORD, DE – An Illinois man died following an industrial accident in Milford on Saturday. On August 24th, at approximately 1:50pm, Delaware State Troopers were dispatched to the 29000 block of Pine Street in Milford, Delaware following an industrial accident. DSP’s Director of Public Information, Lieutenant India Sturgis told WBOC, “Preliminary findings indicate that a 30-year-old man from McHenry, Illinois, tragically lost his life while performing pile-driving work for a residential construction project. Out of respect for the family’s privacy, we will not be sharing further details about the nature of his injuries.” According to state police, the Troop 4 Criminal Investigations Unit responded to the scene and led the investigation.

Road safety worker dies after being hit by two drivers while crossing I-40 in Wake County

WAKE COUNTY. N.C. (WTVD) — A man was hit and killed Friday morning on I-40 eastbound in Wake County. It happened around 4 a.m. near mile marker 307 south of Clayton Bypass. According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol (NCSHP), the man was identified as Kevarus N. Bowens, 45, of Lumberton, NC. NCSHP said Bowens was standing in the median along I-40 where he had been removing a lane closure sign, which previously warned drivers of an upcoming work zone and closed left lane. After removing the sign, he attempted to cross the eastbound lanes and was hit by a driver. Bowens was then hit a second time by a different driver after falling onto the pavement. Bowens is an employee of Stay Alert Safety Services, which contracts with S.T. Wooten, a private construction company that works with the state Department of Transportation.

Pa. fire police officer struck, killed at MVC

YORK COUNTY, Pa. — A Goldsboro fire police officer killed while directing traffic during a crash on Aug. 9 has been identified as 67-year-old Brian Peek of Newberry Township. According to the York County Coroner’s Office, Peek was struck by a vehicle at Red Mill Road and Corn Hill Road, WHTM reported.

Worker dies when excavator falls into water

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. (WECT/Gray News) – An excavator operator died in southeastern North Carolina Monday after the heavy machinery fell into a body of water. According to a spokesperson with the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office, 27-year-old Austin Eugene Furner was found dead in a retention pond on Eagle Island. When rescue crews arrived, the excavator was upside down in the water with the cab completely submerged. Authorities did not say how the machinery flipped into the water. The N.C. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Division is investigating.

Worker dies in industrial accident at Del Monte Foods

Plover, WI — A 43-year-old man died Friday while working at Del Monte Foods in Plover, officials confirmed. Rescue crews were called at about 4:45 p.m. Aug. 23 to the factory at 1400 Plover Road. According to a Point Plover Metro Wire report, a 911 caller told dispatchers that a man was seriously injured after his head struck a train rail. A medical helicopter was paged to the scene but was called off when lifesaving measures were not successful. The Portage County Medical Examiner then responded. PPMW reports the man appears to have slipped while loading or unloading a rail car on a CN spur that serves Del Monte and suffered a serious laceration to the neck, along with head trauma. Police have publicly identified the 43-year-old man who died Friday while working at Del Monte Foods in Plover as Tchatravina Lo, of Portage County.

Worker dies in construction site accident

ENID, Okla. — One person was killed Thursday afternoon Aug. 22, 2024,in a construction site accident in the 1800 block of West Carrier Road. The victim, Victor Delgado, 26, was crushed when an I-beam that was being moved fell on him, Garfield County Sheriff Cory S. Rink said. Delgado was working for Elite GC, which is the company erecting the building at the site. The accident happened at about 1:15 p.m.

Carroll County deputy shot in the line of duty has died

CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. — A Carroll County deputy shot in the line of duty while executing a search warrant has died. The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office confirmed overnight that Investigator Taylor Bristow died Friday night at Grady Memorial Hospital. “Tonight, we mourn the passing of Investigator Bristow, who has left this earth and gained his heavenly wings. He served our community with unwavering passion and dedicated his life to protecting the citizens of Carroll County. We are deeply saddened and at a loss for words. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers, and kindly respect their privacy as they grieve this profound loss,” the office wrote in a statement. Bristow was helping the Georgia Bureau of Investigation execute a search warrant for a child exploitation suspect at a house on Don Rich Drive on Tuesday. The GBI said the suspect, 40-year-old Christopher Bly, opened the door and retreated into his home, where the deputies followed. The GBI said Bly pulled out a gun and shot himself and Bristow with the same bullet. Bly died at the scene from his self-inflicted gunshot wound. Paramedics rushed Bristow to the hospital. While searching Bly’s home, the GBI said agents found child porn at the home.

Truck driver killed in Arlington chain-reaction crash

ARLINGTON, Texas – The driver of an 18-wheeler died Friday night in a multi-vehicle wreck on Highway 287 in Arlington. Arlington police said the crash happened around 10:30 p.m. in the northbound lanes of the highway near Sublett Road. A total of five vehicles were involved. Police said the driver of an 18-wheeler didn’t slow down enough when other traffic on the highway had come to a stop because of construction in the area. The 18-wheeler rear-ended another 18-wheeler, which then collided with two SUVs and a third 18-wheeler. The driver of the 18-wheeler who caused the wreck died in the crash.