Jorge Gomez, 51, died Monday at the Norfolk Southern rail yard in Jersey City when a container fell onto the lifting machine he was operating at the time. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)
The ILWU Coast Longshore Division send our condolences to Brother Gomez’ family, friends and colleagues. An Injury to One is an Injury to All.
The man who was killed Monday when a container fell and crushed him at a Jersey City rail facility worked for a company with a history of safety violations, according to U.S Department of Labor records.
H&M International Transportation Inc. — an Iselin-based logistics company — has paid nearly $17,000 in fines for a total of seven infractions found at facilities in Hudson County since 2012, Occupational Safety and Health Administration records indicate.
The H&M employee — Jorge Gomez, 51, of Bayonne — died Monday at the Norfolk Southern rail yard in Jersey City when a container fell onto the lifting machine he was operating at the time.
“Rail yard employees working as ground personnel unlocking stacked container boxes were exposed to crushing hazards during removal of container boxes,” according to an OSHA inspection report from Aug. 4, 2014.
That appears to be what happened when Gomez was killed just before 1:30 p.m. Monday at the County Road rail facility. Jersey City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said investigators’ initial assessment is that the wire that was part of the machine lifting a freight container snapped, causing the container to fall on him.