Workers killed on the job near Rochester, New York
By
Steve Filips
1 February 2017
John J. Higgins, 50, who worked for Crop Production Services (CPS), was killed while taking part in the unloading of fertilizer from a railroad car this past Wednesday in Lakeville, New York, just south of Rochester.
CPS is a subsidiary of Canadian multinational corporation Agrium Inc., which employs 15,500 workers worldwide and boasted $16 billion in revenue 2014. The company has been cited and fined multiple times for violations by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
From what is known of the accident, Higgins and two coworkers were offloading fertilizer from a railroad car, when an apparent jam in the chute took place. Higgins climbed to the top of the car to physically clear the chute—which, according to reports, frequently becomes clogged with coagulated fertilizer—at which point he lost his balance, fell in to fertilizer, and was unable to pull himself out.
His fellow workers and bystanders tried to extricate Higgins by hand and shovel. Emergency crews were also quick to respond but unable to remove him. The workers and bystanders that were interviewed by local press expressed shock at the suddenness of the event and grief over the loss of Higgins. He is survived by a son and daughter.
In another fatal workplace incident on December 1, Daniel Mayer, 49, was fatally injured at Mersen Corporation, a French-owned multinational electronic parts supplier with a facility near Rochester.
Mayer was in the vicinity when maintenance was being performed on the factory’s 200 ton press. A block, made of unknown material, was being used as a safety brace to hold the presses mechanism open. Without warning the press was engaged, subsequently crushing the block, which exploded…