Synagro West, LLC: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Dec 21, 2022 (fatal): Employee is killed when crushed by front end loader

At 11:30 a.m. on December 21, 2022, an employee was troubleshooting a screeching/grinding noise on a John Deere 624L front end loader. The employee was having a coworker, the loader operator, do basic functions to see if he could pinpoint by sound where the issue was coming from. After some initial checking, the employee moved to check the front differential and transmission. The employee climbed under the front right of the loader and asked the coworker to articulate both the front and rear of the loader. After the employee instructed the coworker to move steering wheel to the left and right, the coworker asked what to do next and got no response. The coworker climbed down to check on the employee and found him on the ground with blood coming from his mouth and ears. The employee died due to blunt force impact to his head, neck and thoracic vertebra.