Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program Solid
Waste Compost Facility Worker Dies, Body Is Recovered In
Digester Tube – Tennessee On July 22, 2010, a 50-year-old worker
was found deceased in a compost digestera tube at a solid waste
facility. The victim worked as a picker on a tipping floor.b His
duties were to separate compostable from non-compostable trash
that was unloaded onto the tipping floor by residential and
commercial waste haulers. Once the trash was separated, the
compostable material was pushed into an open digester pit by a
co-worker operating a front-end loader. A hydraulic ram located
near the pit floor would then push the material into the
digester tube. In this incident, the victim's shift had begun at
approximately 7:00 am. Approximately three hours later coworkers
became concerned because he was not at his workstation. Public
safety officials were notified and arrived on the scene at
approximately 12:15 pm. Emergency workers searched the worksite
and surrounding area, as w