MODERN REDI MIX

Employee drowns when excavator rolls into sludge pond

Employee #1 had been cleaning out a sludge pond of a local stone company for abo ut three days with a P & H excavator, model H-418, serial #34167. The owner of t he firm had stopped by earlier to speak to the employee about finishing. He then left the site. The employee had about a half hour to remove additional sludge f rom the southeast corner of the pond. The machine was apparently traveling south along the east bank with its bucket curled back. The machine rolled onto its ri ght side in the pond. The cab door was closed and the operator was pinned and dr owned. The employee had been operating such equipment for 35 years and had 6 1/2 years experience with excavators. A wrecker was used to lift the excavator from the sludge, the rear cab window was broken, and the employee's body was removed . There were no witnesses to this accident. Snow and ice were believed to have c ontributed to the roll-over.