Crushed by trailer at work, Long Beach city employee dies;
The hitch of the trailer was pressing down on Matthews’ chestPosted by Stephanie Michaud on September 6, 2016
A 28-year-old Long Beach city employee crushed by a trailer has died of the injuries he sustained in the workplace accident, a city spokeswoman said Tuesday.
Stevaughn Matthews was critically injured Thursday morning when a trailer fell on him in the Fleet Services Building at 2600 Temple Ave. and died Monday at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, according to Kerry Gerot, public affairs officer in the Long Beach city manager’s office.
Few details of the type of trailer and how it fell on the victim were disclosed by officials. Most likely, he removed the pin to disconnect the trailer from the tractor. This is how these type of accidents happen. He miscalculated the movement of the trailer and the hitch end-up crushing him. Other workers have lost feet and hands from these falling trailer hitches.
“Mr. Matthews was a garage services attendant assigned to the Department of Financial Management Fleet Services Bureau,” according to Gerot, who said he had worked for the city since February.
“Mr. Matthews was very well liked, and his presence will be greatly missed by his co-workers at the Fleet Services Bureau,” Gerot said. “City officials have expressed their deepest condolences to his family.”
Counselors from the city’s Employee Assistance Program are providing support to Matthews’ fellow employees, she said.
The city’s safety and attorney’s offices are investigating the accident in conjunction with the City Attorney’s Office and Cal/OSHA, Gerot said.
–City News Service
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Long Beach auto-repair employee crushed by trailer dies
By Jeremiah Dobruck, Long Beach Press Telegram
Posted: 09/06/16, 3:07 PM PDT
A maintenance employee for the city of Long Beach died Monday from injuries he suffered last week when a trailer fell on him, according to authorities.
Stevaughn Matthews, 28, was an auto-repair worker for Long Beach. He’d been working for Long Beach since February, city spokeswoman Kerry Gerot said.
Around 9 a.m. on Thursday, a coworker found Matthews unresponsive and trapped under a trailer filled with portable toilets at Long Beach’s fleet services building at 2600 Temple Ave., according to Cal/OSHA, which is investigating the incident.
The hitch of the trailer was pressing down on Matthews’ chest, according to Cal/OSHA.
The Long Beach Fire Department responded and took Matthews in critical condition to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center where he later died, Gerot said in a news release. Fire officials initially said he had been taken to a hospital in full cardiac arrest after suffering traumatic injuries.
The city is providing counselors for Matthews’ coworkers, Gerot said.
“Mr. Matthews was very well liked, and his presence will be greatly missed by his coworkers at the Fleet Services Bureau,” Gerot said in a statement. “City officials have expressed their deepest condolences to his family.”