Dive Brief:
- A waste truck driver driving on a freeway in Detroit, MI was killed when his truck hit a bridge, bringing the entire structure down.
- The investigation into the accident has led to speculation that the hoist may have been in an upright position, which pulled the bridge down. But Michigan State Police Lt. Mike Shaw said the truck was equipped with a red light warning device that should have alerted the driver.
- The driver, Stanford Doll, was employed at TLC Waste Disposal Services. This marks the second fatality that involves a worker from this hauler in the past month.
Dive Insight:
TLC Waste Disposal, located in Romulus, MI, is already being investigated by the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) after Calvin Goree, an employee at the company, was killed earlier this month. Goree was electrocuted while driving a company truck.
An investigation by police into the latest incident concluded that a part of the truck Doll was driving struck a power line as he was dumping scrap metal. A spokesperson for MIOSHA said the bridge incident will not be investigated by the agency as it doesn’t investigate traffic fatalities.
