Jackson industrial accident: Man dies after being pinned under piece of equipment
JACKSON - A man was killed after he was pinned under a piece of equipment Thursday morning at Ralph Clayton and Sons LLC, a statewide masonry manufacturing company.
Police believe the man was taking apart a piece of equipment that was needed somewhere else when it collapsed and pinned him to the ground, according to a statement from Jackson Police Captain Steven Laskiewicz.
The victim was identified as 58-year-old Kenneth Mann, a Jackson resident and a company employee.
A man called 911 at about 7:04 a.m. reporting that he was stuck under a piece of equipment at the facility, located on East Veterans Highway. The 911 dispatchers attempted to keep the subject on the phone but eventually lost contact with the caller, Laskiewicz wrote.
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Police arrived and began searching the large garage area of the facility to try to find the trapped man. Fire and emergency medical also assisted in the search.
When the victim couldn't be found in the garage or the surrounding area, first responders widened the search. A firefighter then spotted Mann unresponsive and pinned under a piece of equipment near the tree line on the fringe of the facility near East Veterans Highway.
First responders freed him from the equipment and began CPR. Mann was taken to Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood where he was pronounced dead at 8:06 a.m., police said.
Police aren't sure exactly what the piece of equipment was. It was located in what appeared to be a storage area at the far side of the property along with multiple other pieces of equipment, Laskiewicz said.
A spokeswoman from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) confirmed they are investigating an accident at the Jackson facility.
The Ocean County Sheriff's Department was also called to the scene.
No one answered the phone Thursday at a number belonging to the company.
Clayton and Sons is a concrete, block and sand company with production facilities around New Jersey, but mainly in Monmouth and Ocean counties, according to its website.
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The company has facilities in Belmar, Freehold, Lakewood, Long Branch, Tinton Falls, Toms River, Waretown, Cookstown, Edison, Egg Harbor, Keasbey, North Arlington, Trenton and West Creek. The Jackson facility is listed as a "sand location," whereas some are listed as block, concrete or heavy tool locations.
OSHA reports show a man was struck and killed at the company's North Arlington loading yard in October 2017.
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An employee was struck by a cement truck while crossing through a loading zone and later died from his injuries, according to the OSHA report. The company was cited for two "serious" violations and fined more than $20,300 in penalties, noting that the employer didn't have a traffic control plan to protect employees from being exposed to hazardous vehicular traffic.
The company was also cited in 2014 during a planned inspection for violations related to overhead cranes and controlling hazardous energy from machines and equipment, OSHA reports show.
Kala Kachmar: @NewsQuip; 732-643-4061; kkachmar@gannettnj.com
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