Machinery crushes Colorado employee at equipment company

Last week, a Colorado man who worked at an equipment company was killed after an accident at work. Emergency responders initially got the call in the afternoon. By the time they were able to get to the accident scene, it was too late.

Workplace injuries can cause serious health problems and even death. In some instances, a work injury can occur when an employee has been constantly lifting heavy objects and eventually suffers a back injury. Or an employee can be crushed by a piece of heavy machinery and require an amputation surgery to prevent the spread of infection. Whatever the injury, there is always a loss incurred that the injured employee and their family must deal with.

When an employee is killed on the job, his or her family is faced with the grief of losing a loved one. It can be especially difficult to try to move forward with their lives if they are also trying to figure out how to sort through finances. This is especially apparent in families where the worker was the main source of financial income.

The incident that occurred last week is likely being investigated by OSHA, according to the article. The man had only been working at the company for a few months. Thus far, it is believed that the man had been working on some machinery when part of his sleeve got caught into the machine.

His arm was crushed in the machinery, according to the initial 911 call. It is unclear whether the machinery crushed more than his arm or if he died from the arm injury. But according to the man’s coworkers, the entire incident happened so fast that by the time they were able to shut off the machine, it was already too late.

While OSHA may be investigating the incident, there are some questions that arise from the fatal accident. Was there something wrong with the machinery? Was the man improperly trained by his employer to work on the machinery? What about the fact that his sleeve was caught in the machinery? Is there a safety issue with the work attire required? Until the investigation is complete, these questions remain unanswered.

Source: Valley Courier online, “Man dies in industrial accident,” 09 February 2011

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