Not an “accident”: Alejandro Anguiana, 41, suffers fatal work-related injury in Kingsbury, IN

Alejandro Anguiana, 41, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Friday, March 6, 2015 while working at Markman Peat Corp. in Kingsbury, Indiana. ABC57 reports:

• Mr. Anguiana was a payload/forklift operator. A co-worker found Mr. Anguiana trapped in a running piece of machinery. EMS was called to the scene at 6:20 am.

WISHTV says the machinery was a “peat-loading conveyor belt.”

WSBT.com reports:

• “Sheriff John Boyd said the man was pulled in when his sweatshirt got wrapped around the power takeoff shaft that turns to operate the machine. “
• “Several employees were involved in turning off the machine and cutting off clothing to free Anguiano, who was unconscious.”
• “Markman Peat, also known as New Plant Life, has existed in Kingsbury for some 30 years. … The company packages a variety of soils and rocks used for landscaping and its products in individual-sized bags are found at major retailers like Menard's.”

In 2002, at a Markman Peat Corp. facility in Morrison, Illinois, a 19-year old employee was fatally injured on-the-job while operating a dump truck. The facility had an unmarked railroad crossing and while driving the dump truck the employee was struck by a train. The company paid a $2,500 penalty for a serious and a willful violation.

In 2011, the Markman family sold Markman Peat Corporation to Jeff Widdop and Brian Sherrick who are in the financial services industry.

Each year, more than 100 workers in Indiana are fatally injured on-the-job. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 123 work-related fatal injuries in Indiana during 2013 (preliminary data, most recent available.) Nationwide, at least 4,405 workers suffered fatal traumatic injuries in 2013.

The AFL-CIO’s annual Death on the Job report notes:

• Indiana OSHA has 39 inspectors to cover more than 144,000 workplaces.
• The average penalty for a serious workplace safety violation in Indiana is $1,054.

Indiana OSHA has until early-September 2015 to issue any citations and penalties related to the incident that stole Alejandro Anguiana’s life. It’s likely they’ll determine that Anguiana’s death was preventable. It was no “accident.”