Thursday, July 07, 2005

Work Hard, Die Young

Despite the recent outreach efforts by OSHA and worker safety groups to teen workers, it's summertime, and the dying is easy.


Dredging company that employed worker who was killed has 10 violations

St. Augustine, FL -- Ten "serious" safety citations were issued in 2002 against an Illinois dredging company, whose 19-year-old worker died Wednesday morning after being run over by a bulldozer at the city's beach renourishment site.

Kyle M. Toon, a college intern from Tennessee, was pronounced dead at the scene, said Tom Clements, media relations officer for the St. Augustine Police Department.

Toon and the bulldozer operator "were staking out the beach as part of the renourishment project," Clements said. "The last report I had from the investigation was there was some kind of miscommunication between the two, and he got caught in the path of the dozer.

"By the time a witness could get the driver's attention to back up, it was too late."


MIOSHA to look into man's death
19-year-old died when lawnmower toppled


PETOSKEY, MI - The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the recent death of a greenskeeper at the Bay Harbor Golf Club.

Justin Conklin, 19, of Boyne City, died June 13 when he and the riding lawnmower he was operating fell off an elevated tee box and down a steep incline on the club's Quarry course.

Conklin was pinned under the mower and found dead nearly four hours later by a fellow greenskeeper.


Construction Worker Drowns

JULINGTON CREEK, FL -- A 19-year-old Duval County man was found dead in a retention pond near a construction site off Racetrack Road on Wednesday. St. Johns County Deputies were called to the scene off East Kelsie Lane Wednesday afternoon. Witnesses say that the victim, whose name is being withheld until his family is notified, and two other men were on a lunch break from a construction site. After lunch the victim and one of the other men jumped in the pond to cool off and began to swim across. One of the men made it to the other side, however, the victim was unable to get out and was last seen going under the water. The witnesses attempted to save the victim, but were unable to pull him out. The Sheriff's Office Dive Team responded and located the victim's body shortly after 3:00 p.m.


Car wash employee loses control of Rolls, kills fellow worker

Brooklyn, New York -- An 18-year-old car-wash employee was killed Saturday when another employee, who does not have a driver's license, lost control of a car and pinned him, police said.

The accident happened at 1 p.m. at the Utica Car Wash at Utica and Maple avenues.

Germain Rodriguez Manguia, 18, was drying the back of a 2002 Ford Explorer when another employee, Alton Gilling, 47, pulled a 1980 Rolls-Royce out of the car wash and hit Manguia, police said.


Temporary worker killed on job

DANVILLE, IL – A Danville man was killed early Wednesday morning in a machine operation accident at ThyssenKrupp Gerlach Machining Division.

Lindon M. Campbell, 19, was operating a crankshaft lathe when he became tangled in the machine, according to a statement released by the Vermilion County coroner's office.


Construction Worker Killed

Leesburg, VA -- A construction worker died Wednesday, June 22, after he fell from the second story of a home under construction near Leesburg, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. Jose Omar Robles Melgar, 18, of Alexandria, was working on the single-family home in the 20580 block of Myers Place when witnesses say around 2:50 p.m. he fell approximately 20 feet and struck his head. Melgar was airlifted to Inova Fairfax Hospital where he would later die as a result of his injuries. The accident is under investigation by the Sheriff's Criminal Investigations Division.