Not an “accident”: Terry Lakey, 51, suffers fatal work-related injury in Waco, TX

Terry Leon Lakey, 51, suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Wednesday, September 16, 2015 while working at Terex Services in Waco, TX.  KCEN reports:

*The incident occurred at 5:40 am when “the victim was crushed by a piece of hydraulic equipment.”

The CSB affiliate in Waco was more specific, reporting:

*Mr. Lakey “was crushed by the hydraulic aerial lift that he was servicing.”

The Waco Tribune indicates:

*"Terex officials did not answer the phone Wednesday and did not return phone messages."

Terex is multinational firm that manufacturers and services industrial machinery and equipment. Its market value is $2.2 billion. The Terex location at which Mr. Lakey was killed was subject to an OSHA inspection in 2012 following a complaint. The company paid a $4,900 penalty for a violation of OSHA’s safety standards for powered-industrial trucks (e.g., forklifts.)

Each year, about 500 workers in Texas are fatally injured on the job. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 524 work-related fatal injuries in Texas during 2014 (preliminary data, most recent available.) Nationwide, at least 4,679 workers suffered fatal traumatic injuries in 2014.

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

• Federal OSHA has 100 inspectors in Texas to cover more than 537,000 workplaces.
• The average penalty for a serious violation in Texas is $2,154.
• The average penalty for citations related to a work-related fatality occurring in Texas is $9,593.

Federal OSHA has until mid-March 2016 to issue any citations and penalties related to the incident that stole Terry Leon Lakey’s life. It’s likely they’ll determine that his death was preventable. It was no “accident.”