OSHA fines Pennsylvania hauler after worker’s death

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a $16,131 fine for Milesburg, Pennsylvania-based Newman Hill after one of the company’s workers was killed on the job earlier this year, StateCollege.com reports.

The Centre County, Pennsylvania, hauler was cited for one serious violation following an investigation into the death by the U.S. Department of Labor’s workplace safety regulatory agency.

Nathen R. Kerstetter, 38, was riding the back of a Newman Hill truck on the morning of Jan. 17 when the driver backed the vehicle into a tree overhanging a driveway in Port Matilda, according to the report. Kerstetter suffered fatal injuries from the impact and was pronounced dead at the scene by the Centre County deputy coroner.

According to the OSHA citation, Newman Hill “did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to struck-by and caught between hazards when riding on the riding step while the waste collection vehicle was operating in reverse.”

The company has until July 25 to provide documentation of abatement, or correction of the violation, according to the report.