Local death

oldoakman

oldoakman

Been here much more than a while
Location
Alorgia
Well, it finally happened. An employee of a local tree service was killed here Monday when he was crushed under the bed of a dump truck. Unofficial reports say the truck dump cylinder had been malfunctioning lately and in order to drop the bed thay were releasing the check valve. Apparently there was some weight remaining in the bed and when he released the valve, the bed slammed down crushing him and killing him instantly. 29 years old with 2 kids. Not sure if OSHA has been notified yet. Very little local media on this one. Prayers to the family.
 
Totally needless tragedy. The truck should have gone in for repairs as soon as they noticed it having issues. Having to get it down the first time it got stuck I can see carefully releasing the valve with stands or blocks in there for safety but the next stop should have been a hydraulic shop. Gravity always wins.

My condolences to the family that is WAY too young to check out.
 
I agree Adam, and that is my frustration with most of the local companies here. Yes we have more than our share of fly by nights, but this was one of the longer established "reputable" companies. All of the locals run junk equipment for the most part. It was just a matter of time and who it would happen to.

Thanks to all for thoughts and prayers for the family.
 
Terrible tradgedy, and completely preventable. Yes once to get the truck to the shop for repairs I understand. Cirumstances unknown, just speculation as a lot of these awakenings are. The right to refuse unsafe work is often over looked by some, and I don't know why. I don't ask someone to do something I wouldn't. In a circumstance like that employees need to tell the boss to get it fixed or he can dump it himself.
 
In Ontario there is much better employment standards than in many of the states. Some, like NJ are "at will" states, which means you can be let go "at will". No reason, no notice. So the right to refuse is meaningless.

It is a preventable accident. Let's hope the book gets thrown at the owner for allowing the continued operation of a seriously defective piece of equipment.
 
That's a shame.. poor kids to grow up with only a memory of Dad..

Tim Walsh set up an informal excel file of tree related fatalities... I used to page through it and read the descriptions.. A LOT of men would be alive today if their company had better equipment maintenance..It is a major safety issue..

Its about time to set up a fund for the kids who have lost their dad's in this biz or a mentoring program would be nice..
 
most of these accidents are preventable i been doing this for 26 going on 27 yrs now. have refused to do some stupid things twice, do to owners not taking it for repair. we have a tree service here that osha tags them every time he see's their trucks on the rd. i have gotten 1 ticket in all those yrs, of all things it was the gloves i was wearing.
rip young man thoughts and prayers with your family
thanks Wags
 
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