January 31, 2019
FORT WORTH, TEXAS
A worker at a waste and recycling center in northeast Fort Worth died early Thursday after she was crushed by a stack of recycled material.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner identified the victim as 31-year-old Renisha Mitchell, of Fort Worth. Mitchell worked for Republic Services waste and recycling services.
According to police, Mitchell was killed just after 2 a.m. after being crushed by a one ton bale of recycled material.
Three bales of material were reportedly stacked on top of each other, causing them to become unstable.
Two of the bales fell, and one landed on Mitchell.
=============================
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – A family is demanding accountability from a Fort Worth business after a mother of four was crushed to death by a one-ton bale of recycled material while working early Thursday morning.
Police are investigating her death as a workplace accident at a recycling plant just south of Airport Freeway in east Fort Worth.
According to police, 31-year-old Renisha Mitchell was at work at Republic Services at around 2:30 a.m. when a stack of three bales of recycled material became unstable, causing one of them to fall on her.
Renisha Mitchell (Family Photo)
The woman’s brother and sister believe the accident could have been easily prevented. They said she was a good mother to her four children, with the youngest being three-months old.
The siblings said Mitchell did everything for children, which is why she was working overnight at a job she’s had for about five years.
“For this to happen to my sister. My baby sister. It’s hurting all of us, and it’s hard because at work you want to feel safe…” said Andrea Williams.
“To hear how she died… it’s crazy. We have a lot of questions,” said Donavan Russell.
Republic Services released a statement on Thursday to offer their condolences to Mitchell and her family.
It is with great sadness for the entire Republic Services family that we learned early this morning that one of our employees will not be making it back home safely to her family. We are mourning the loss of our friend and coworker, and our thoughts and prayers are with her family, her children and loved ones. Republic is fully cooperating with the local authorities…
However, her siblings said the statement wasn’t enough and believe more needs to be done immediately.
“They need to have someone there to be accountable to how something is stacked. There should be a walkway where people go, where they’re not in the direction of something falling on top of them,” said Russell.
“It’s their job to keep you safe… not to get a phone call that your sister passed away at work,” said Williams.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it is investigating the incident.