EDITOR’S NOTE: We are counting down the top 10 stories of 2022 from the Register-Star and The Daily Mail, based on our website’s (HudsonValley360.com) analytics. Each day, we will publish one story, in descending order, until we reach to most-read story of the year on Dec. 31. We are publishing two stories on the first day, Dec. 21, to kick off the countdown.
HUDSON — Police identified a Massachusetts man as the sanitation worker killed Monday in an accident with a falling trash dumpster.
Brett Cathline, 55, of Ashley Falls, was killed in the incident, Hudson Police Chief L. Edward Moore said.
The man was employed by Barbato Disposal of Hillsdale, according to Moore.
At about 11:21 a.m. Hudson police were notified by Columbia County 911 who alerted them that Greenport Rescue Squad was being sent to the 200 block of Long Alley following reports that a dumpster had just fallen on top of a man at that location.
All available Hudson police units responded to the scene to assist Greenport Rescue Squad. Officer Kevin Keyser and Greenport Rescue paramedics attempted lifesaving measures, including CPR, without success, Moore said.
Cathline was pronounced dead at the scene by Columbia County Coroner Daniel Herrick.
Detectives spoke to several witnesses on the scene and it appears the dumpster fell on Cathline while it was being lowered to the ground from a garbage truck, Moore said.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was notified of the work accident. Investigators spent several hours on the scene Monday. The entire area was closed to the public, Moore said.
Barbato Disposal is a local family-owned and operated business that has been serving Columbia County, Berkshire County, Greene County and Litchfield County in Connecticut for more than 60 years, according to the company’s website.
Solid waste collection workers had the fifth deadliest job in the U.S. in 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That number has decreased annually since then.
Fatalities involving solid waste workers in North America decreased by 46% in 2021, according to data from the Solid Waste Association of North America.
There were 28 waste-worker deaths across the country in 2021.
The organization says the decrease is partly due to the industry’s heightened focus on overall health and safety, since hitting a high in 2017, with 107 reported deaths.
Fifty-nine fatalities were reported in 2018, 53 in 2019, and 52 in 2020, according to industry data.