Wash. forklift operator dies on the job

By: Nathalie Weinstein//December 22, 2010//

Wash. forklift operator dies on the job

Nathalie Weinstein//December 22, 2010//

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A forklift operator with Waste Management in Burlington, Wash., was killed Tuesday on a job site, according to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.

The accident occurred when Waste Management employee Kyle Willis, 39, was using a forklift to move an ecology block, a piece of concrete weighing over 2,000 pounds used in retaining walls, according to Hector Castro, public affairs spokesman with the labor department. During the move, the forklift overturned and Willis was pinned beneath the block.

The labor department’s investigation will take six months to complete, Castro said, and will determine whether any violations of workplace safety rules led to the fatality. Willis had been with Waste Management for the past 18 years.