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Crushed on the tipper? Man, that's awful...

Does anyone know if they have a tipper operator that works for the landfill, or if the drivers operate the tipper themselves? I'm trying to figure out a scenario where someone would be between the truck and the back of the tipper. That's a horrible accident that someone else probably has to live with

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For anyone that doesn't know, a tipper is a stand alone piece of equipment that the tractor trailers back onto to dump their loads in the landfill. Most dump the trailer after the truck uncouples, but some will lift the entire truck and trailer

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When that deck is in the down position, it is normally angled from back to front, so the trucks have to back slightly uphill. The big blue wall the truck is backed into is called the backstop, and the way I read that story the employee was pinched between the truck and the backstop. It's doubtful the truck was in neutral with the brakes off and just rolled into him. This is just a very sad, scary story, and another sad example that I shared with all of my operators at lunch today.

We see 130-160 trucks per day, and several times per day we will interact with these trucks with either a man on the ground, or a piece of heavy machinery. Trucks can get stuck and have to be pushed or pulled, spotters will be on the ground, trash can get hung in the chute in the tipper...

The cardinal rule is always make contact with the driver before doing anything around, or to, their truck. Landfills are busy places, trucks and equipment never stop moving. Many drivers get paid by the load, not by the hour, so everyone is in a hurry. We deal with a lot of weight and a lot of horsepower, so very few accidents are small. Almost every accident results in significant damage to equipment, and my fear is always what would happen if it ever involved a man on the ground.

This is what would happen. It's so sad. It's a preventable accident, and if a driver was in fact driving the truck when it ran into that man, he will have to live with that for the rest of his life. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, and my biggest fear is having to call one of my employees' wives one day and tell her daddy isn't coming home

 

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Investigation underway after second death within 3 years at Elk County landfill


 
Greentree Landfill (WJAC)
 

Authorities say one man is dead after an accident at an Elk County landfill.

Elk County Coroner Michelle Muccio pronounced 56-year-old Gary Haupt of Penfield dead at Greentree landfill Tuesday evening.

Since then, OSHA has confirmed to 6 News that a compliance officer is investigating the incident and a Pennsylvania Department of Environment Protection investigator was expected to arrive at the landfill Wednesday afternoon.

Muccio said Haupt was trapped between the back of a tractor-trailer and a tipping device Tuesday afternoon. Muccio said he was pronounced dead shortly after 5:30 p.m.

This is the second death at Greentree landfill in two years.

In 2017, William Pierce, a Clearfield County man was killed in a landslide while working there.

Months later, the "Root Cause" report filed after Pierce's death said waste streams within the Greentree landfill, among other factors, contributed to the deadly incident.

The DEP approved that report -- and Advanced Disposal agreed to pay a civil penalty of $600,000.

According to Advanced Disposal’s website, Greentree landfill received its permit in 1986 and handles 3,000 tons of trash a day.

6 News asked the DEP for a list of violations since Greentree Landfill has been in operation.

There were six in total.

In the case of William Pierce, the DEP reported that there were significant cracks and settling in the active disposal area since mid-January 2017, which were not reported until days before Pierce’s death.

Following that incident, there were four more violations in 2017 reported by the DEP that included another significant crack in the landslide violation reported in April of that year.

The most recent violation was in April of 2018, where the DEP reported that Advanced Disposal failed to meet intermediate cover requirements in the landfill.

Advanced Disposal released a statement Wednesday, saying:

"It is with profound sadness that we announce that one of our team members has perished as a result of an incident that occurred at the Greentree Landfill. We are conducting an investigation and will be cooperating with all agencies that are required to investigate the incident.”

In the meantime, Advanced Disposal said Greentree Landfill is operational as the investigation continues.                   SEE VIDEO REPORT  ;     https://wjactv.com/news/local/investigation-underway-after-second-death-within-3-years-at-elk-county-landfill

 

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