Employee Killed in City Parking Lot Accident

Cumming, GA (WorkersCompensation.com) – City officials in Cumming, Ga., said a city employee was killed when they were struck by a car in a city-owned parking lot.

Her death was just one of a number of work-related deaths across the country recently.

Cumming officials said Crystal Sawyer, 44, was an inventory clerk for the city’s utilities distribution and collection division. Officials said she was hit in the parking lot of the city’s water facilities. Officials said on Monday, March 10, Sawyer was hit by a truck in the parking lot. She was declared dead at the scene. Police are investigating the accident, the city said.

In a statement, the city said it is grieving the loss of its employee.

"The City of Cumming is completely devastated following this tragic accident that resulted in the loss of life of a treasured City employee. The City of Cumming is very much a family, and we are all in shock and utterly heartbroken following this morning’s tragedy,” the city said in a statement. “At this time, we ask for the community to join us in prayer for the family and friends of our lost employee, as well as for our entire City of Cumming family."

Sawyer had been a city employee with the utilities building division in the Cumming City Hall. Since September 202. In June 2023, she was transferred to the utilities distribution and collection division headquarters on the Dahlonega Highway.

“Crystal was a treasured City of Cumming employee with a bubbly, outgoing personality who made everyone she encountered feel welcome,” City Administrator Phil Higgins said. “She also had a very fun sense of humor and kept her co-workers laughing. She was a hard worker who was loved by all her supervisors and coworkers.”

The city ordered flags flown at half-mast between March 17 and 22 in honor of Sawyer.

In Memphis, Tenn., a worker is dead after an apparent fall from a warehouse.

Officials with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said the employee fell on Wednesday, March 12 in the afternoon.

Police said they were called to the Lineage Distribution Center for an injured employee. Officials said the employee was pronounced dead at the scene. According to the sheriff’s office, preliminary reports indicate the worker’s fall was accidental. The medical examiner was called to the scene and is investigating the death, police said. No information was given what the man was doing or how he fell. Officials said the death is still under investigation.

And in North Lawrence, N.Y., an employee is dead after an accident with a payloader.

Officials said they are investigating the death of a Bellport man who died of injuries he sustained when a payloader driven by a fellow worker hit him. The accident happened on Monday, March 10. The death is being investigated by homicide detectives.

According to officials, around 9 a.m., a 33-year-old man was working at the mason yard on Johnson Road operating a large payloader. The vehicle struck his co-worker, Michael Porter, 54, of Bellport.

Police said after they arrived on the scene, Porter was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Company officials declined to give a statement to local media outlets.

No indication was given as to the cause of Porter’s death or if any charges had been filed against the co-worker. Police didn’t address why the death was being investigated by homicide detectives either.

Nassau Police did say the incident remains under investigation.

And a company in Appleton, Wisc., confirmed that an employee died on Wednesday as a result of a “workplace accident.”

Officials with Progressive Converting, also known as ProCon, said the accident occurred at the company’s Glendale Avenue location.

“Our primary concern at this time is to ensure that the needs and well-being of the family of the affected employee are met,” the company said in a statement. “Additionally, we are working closely to ensure that we provide the correct care and support for all of our employees in the region. ProCon is working closely with all local, state, and federal agencies to fully investigate the incident. Since this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further on the details involved.

A spokesperson with the Appleton Area OSHA office said an investigation had been opened into a forklift related accident at the company. No other details were made available, the department said.

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