A 53-year-old man working as a maintenance worker was crushed to death in a freak accident in the popular bowling alley in Fairfield, Ohio where he worked.
David Geiger, who had been working in the bowling business for more than thirty years, was working on a malfunctioning pinsetter at Northwest Lanes on Happy Valley Drive Butler County, Fairfield when his clothing got snagged in some machinery and pulled him to his death, according to a report by the local WCPO TV station.
Officer Doug Day, spokesperson for the Fairfield Police Department, told the station that Geiger was sent to the pinsetters to work on a malfunctioning machine. He said nobody was aware of what happened until other employees started looking for him to ask him to fix another one of the machines and found Geiger trapped among the gears and pulleys. Customers were present during the mishap, but none of them saw Geiger, Day said.
"He was sent back for a problem with one of the lanes," Day told WCPO. "He'd been back there, they tried to call him, and when he didn't answer the call they went back there and they found him."
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducted an investigation on Friday, a day after Geiger died. An autopsy schedule on the same day ruled that the cause of death is traumatic asphyxia. Geiger's lungs were crushed under his chest by the machine.
Nathan Hursell, one of Geiger's former colleagues, said he was shocked over what happened. He said although the machines used at bowling alley were old, they were good machines. Hursell also said Geiger was always a professional and knew what he was doing.
"The machines are about 40 to 50 years old - they're good machines, but just like any running machine they're dangerous," Hursell said. "They got gears, pulleys, everything's running back there."
Hursell described Geiger as "a stand-up guy."
"He knew exactly what he was doing back there," he added. "It's one of those things where you don't think twice of that happening. It's just a common spot that we get in the machines and it's just a freak accident."
OSHA officials will be launching a full investigation of Northwest Lanes, which could take six weeks. Cincinnati.com reports that the owners of the bowling alley, which has been in operation since 1976 were "very sad and upset" but were fully cooperating with the OSHA in the investigation.
The last time a bowling alley employee was killed on the job was in 2006. The person was crushed by machinery in the Oklahoma bowling alley where he was working.
