OSHA Opens Probe Into Fatal XPO Accident
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into a fatal accident at XPO Logistics in Lockport, N.Y., early June 25.
Employees Roger Mangine, 62, and Christopher Klosin, 38, were killed when 8,800 pounds of countertop material collapsed inside a truck that they were unloading at XPO Logistics’ site at 4890 IDA Park Drive, Lockport, N.Y.
By the time first responders arrived, neither man was showing vital signs.
An OSHA spokesperson said the agency opened its investigation into the accident June 25. The probe will seek to determine how the accident occurred and whether the company had been adhering to workplace safety standards.
XPO ranks No. 3 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest North American for-hire carriers.
“In this particular case, clearly our focus is on this incident, what happened, how it happened,” said Michael Scime, director of the Buffalo OSHA office.
“Of course, looking to see if there’s any apparent violations of workplace safety standards, if workplace safety standards were properly utilized in this incidence and what measures we have to put in place to see that it doesn’t happen again,” Scime added.
OSHA will have six months to review the accident and issue its findings.
The investigation is the first into XPO Logistics’ site at IDA Park Drive, which is used to store and transport products manufactured by DuPont’s Tonawanda, N.Y., plant.
The OSHA website lists no complaints against XPO’s Lockport site. However, 51 total complaints were made against all XPO Logistics facilities in the United States over the past five years, including three in New York state. Seventeen of those resulted in OSHA charging the company with violations.
In one accident at an OSHA facility in Queens last August, an employee who was checking air brakes on a trailer suffered fractured ribs when the trailer backed into the employee.
And in an incident in June 2017 in Montgomery, N.Y., an XPO employee suffered a fractured pelvis when an 800-pound box tipped over. The OSHA website states the accident was caused by the employee failing to support the box with a forklift before removing a support strap.
XPO said In a statement that its safety team is investigating the accident.
“We’re saddened to report that a tragic accident occurred this morning at our facility in Lockport … that resulted in the death of two of our colleagues,” an XPO spokesperson said. “We’re working with our safety team and local law enforcement to understand the circumstances under which this tragedy occurred. Our deepest sympathies are with their families and our Lockport team members.”
Klosin, of Barker, worked as a tow motor operator for XPO, and had three stepchildren with his wife, Kristina.
Mangine, of Newfane, was a father of three and a veteran, having served in the U.S. Army National Guard for 21 years. Mangine, a Lackawanna native, worked at Pfeiffer’s before taking a job with XPO.
