A worker operating a large baler at a Rochester, NY recycling facility was crushed to death in June when the machine unexpectedly activated while he was clearing material, catching him between the baler's pusher block/ram and its return cavity.
"This is exactly the type of needless and devastating incident that hazardous energy control procedures are designed to prevent," said Arthur Dube, OSHA's area director for western New York. "Proper training and procedures would have equipped this worker with the knowledge to recognize the crushing hazard and prevent it in the first place."