ROCKY MOUNT, NC (AP) -
A worker at a North Carolina landfill site has died after being hit by a bulldozer.
The state Department of Labor says it has opened an investigation into the death of 48-year-old Gary Sigmon of Denver in Lincoln County. The department said Sigmon was employed by Earnhardt Grading of Stanley.
Officials say Sigmon was a spotter for dump trucks at the landfill on U.S. 301 south of Whitakers in Nash County on Monday.
According to officials, Sigmon ran into the path of the bulldozer after he saw a truck dumping in the wrong location and tried to stop it. The officials said the bulldozer operation didn't see the man.
The state says it will take three to four months to complete its investigation into the incident.
Relatives say Sigmon leaves behind two children.
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Earnhardt Grading ensures the safety and well-being of each employee and their family, by providing a safe and healthful working environment with an emphases on continuously improving through craft engagement. Our safety culture goes above and beyond compliance and focuses on recognizing and motivating our employees to strive for safety excellence.
Our keys to success starts with setting clear expectations during new-hire orientation, developing and training our employees, and recognizing our employees for participating in safety. We encourage employees to provide honest feedback on a day-to-day basis and that is our focus during our safety improvements committee meetings.
The most important asset in Earnhardt Grading is our people and our employee engagement initiatives were developed with that in mind. We have a craft safety supervisor program within the company, where we select high potential craft workers that have a passion for safety and put them through advanced safety training, coach them on best practices, and mentor them once in the field.
Earnhardt Grading wants to see our employees to earn a living, support their families and go home each day injury free.
Donnie Earnhardt ‘Bossman’ founded Earnhardt Grading in 1962. He transitioned from being a custom farmer to grading because there was a lack of rental farm land available. He bought the MotorGrader (pictured) and a D6 to get started. One of his first jobs was in Lincoln County, less than a mile from our current Headquarters.
HISTORY
1962
1970s-
1980s
Earnhardt Grading completes first major project for Duke Energy which involved raising a dam above an impoundment. We were also working heavily in the commercial, industrial, power plant and landfill industries. In 1988 we completed our first lined landfill for a private waste company. It was the first lined landfill to be constructed in NC. We employed around 40 people at the time.
1990s
We continue to focus on a variety of project types and expanded to offer our clients turnkey site work packages. We also started transitioning away from using scrapers and toward articulated trucks to operate more efficiently and cost effectively.
2000s
We’ve always utilized the latest technology to increase our efficiencies and accuracy onsite, and we started adding equipment mounted GPS systems to our equipment in 2004. We also got heavily involved in the power industry, completing 3 large FGD and 2 CTCC projects for Duke Energy.
2017
We are proud to be celebrating our 55th anniversary. Earnhardt Grading continues to look for new markets, clients and niches to support our growth. We employ over 100 people today and serve clients in the Power, Landfill, Coal Ash, commercial, industrial, mining, and additional markets. We are a leader for our quality, value, and our safety performance in our industry. We have been awarded for over 1Million man hours incident free, and are continuously improving our safety culture through employee engagement.