Workers Killed in Separate Accidents

Brandon, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) – Four workers are dead following accidents in separate cities this past weeks. 

In Brandon, Florida, a 57-year-old Florida man is dead after being run over by the street sweeper he was operating. 

The Florida Highway Patrol said the driver was cleaning a supermarket parking lot just before midnight Friday, Feb. 18. According to the FHP, the driver pulled into traffic briefly. After making a U-turn on the road in order to pull back into the same parking lot, the street sweeper hit a Chevrolet Corvette traveling eastbound on the same road. 

According to FHP, the crash with the Corvette threw the operator from his vehicle and into the street in front of it. However, the street sweeper kept moving and rolled over the driver. Police said the driver of the street sweeper was not wearing a seatbelt, and died at the scene from his injuries. 

In Oakland, Florida, an animal shelter worker is dead after one of the dogs she was caring for “suddenly snapped,” police said. 

Officials said Pam Robb was killed Thursday at the 100 Plus Abandoned Dogs of the Everglades. According to police, Robb was working with the dogs when a newly rescued, large, mixed breed dog, Gladys, “suddenly snapped” and attacked Robb and another worker who tried to help her. 

Officials said Robb had been working with Gladys since she was brought to the shelter about a month ago, after it was found in the Everglades. Robb had been helping the dog to acclimate to humans, her wife, Angie Anobile, said. 

Anobile said Gladys latched on to Robb’s arm, pulled her to the ground and attacked her. Robb was transported to a nearby hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. The other worker suffered only minor injuries. 

The dog was taken to Broward Animal Care, where it was put down. A sample from the animal was to be tested for rabies, officials said. 

Between 2005 and 2020, dogs killed 568 Americans, according to dogbite.org. According to the United States Postal Service, more than 5,800 postal workers were attacked by dogs in 2020. 

In Elko, Nevada, a mine worker was killed in an equipment accident on Monday, Feb. 14. 

According to the Elko Daily Free Press, an employee of the Nevada Gold Mines’ Cortez Hills Underground Operation was killed in an accident involving powered haulage. Power haulage refers to equipment like shuttle cars, scoops, locomotives and front-end loaders. 

The company said that the area where the accident occurred has been secured and operations in the vicinity have been suspended until further notice. The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident, the company said.

According to the MSHA, in 2021 nine miners died and 185 were injured in accidents involving powered haulage equipment – the highest number of powered haulage fatalities since 2006. 

And in Memphis, federal labor leaders are investigating an accident that left a FedEx World Hub dead early Friday morning. 

According to the Memphis Police Department, an emergency call came in around 2 a.m. reporting a “personal injury. 

Police said Jessica James, 33, was killed in an accident involving a forklift. Details regarding the accident weren’t released. 

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of our team member,” FedEx said in a statement. “Our heartfelt thoughts are with our team member’s family, their colleagues, and all those affected by this event. We are fully cooperating with the investigating authorities.” 

The accident was one of several over the past few years. 

In 2019, Duntate Young, 23, died when his leg got caught in the door of a shipping container in the hub. The container dragged Young between nearly six feet before he hit a roller, knocking him unconscious. Young was taken to Regional One hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. 

In 2017, Ellen Gladney was killed in an accident on Thanksgiving. Officials said Gladney was part of a team assigned to unload a plane. She was later found underneath a motorized mobile conveyor belt system and pronounced dead. 

According to Jeff Rosenblum, an attorney hired by Gladney’s family to sue the maker of the cargo loaders, Gladney’s team was assigned to maneuver a cargo loader into place to unload a 777F aircraft. Gladney’s job was to operate the E-Stop Control System, a hand-held emergency stop controller that would prevent the loader from running into the plane. 

However, Rosenblum said, in order to grab the stop controller, she had to go where the driver of the loader could not see her. The driver of the loader started moving the loader before Gladney was out of the way, he said.

"Ms. Gladney was hit by the auxiliary deck and she was dragged underneath the auxiliary deck," he told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "She was dragged 80 feet before anybody realized she was gone and asked, 'Where’s Ellen?'" 

The Commercial Appeal found that FedEx’s safety record in 2021 had 24 OSHA violations at various locations across the country. The company was fined more than $150,000 in total for the violations this year.

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