A Florida landfill worker died Friday after a colleague in a bulldozer accidentally ran over the port-a-potty he was using, authorities said.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Polk County Fire Rescue responded to a report of an accident at the Polk County North Central Landfill after 5 p.m.
Workers told first responders that Aaron Henderson had been crushed while using the port-a-potty, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.
Henderson, 40, worked for CertiTemp, a company contracted by Polk County. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
Investigators determined that a fellow CertiTemp employee was putting the bulldozer away for the day when he drove up an embankment, with the front blade of his bulldozer “elevated 3-4 feet off the ground,” according to the statement. The blade obstructed his view while he was on the incline.
"The driver negotiated up the embankment towards the staging area, and once on level ground, he began to turn his bulldozer and heard a loud crumble," the sheriff's office said. The driver, who has not been identified, jumped out of the bulldozer to check if anyone was inside the port-a-potty and found Henderson unresponsive.
The sheriff's office called the incident "a tragic, industrial accident," and Henderson's manner of death has since been officially ruled accidental.
Martha Santiago, Polk County Board of County Commissioners chair, also called the incident "tragic."
“Our Board asks that you keep the family and friends of the deceased in your thoughts and prayers," she said.
