Tire Company & President Fined $85,000 for Worker’s Crushing Death

A worker replacing a tire on an excavator used two jacks to lift its rear, with at least one jack on a wooden block. There were no other stands supporting the vehicle. While he was under the excavator, it tipped off the jacks, fatally crushing him. The tire company and its president pleaded guilty to failing, as an employer and supervisor respectively, to ensure that the excavator was securely and solidly blocked to prevent it from moving or falling on the worker. The court fined the company $75,000 and the president $10,000 [Holmes Tire Inc. and Michael Holmes, Govt. News Release, Aug. 14, 2012].