Pipe-Driving Accident That Killed Rieth-Riley Employee is Probed | Columbus Ohio Dump Trucks
A employee on a jobsite died from injuries suffered while working with pipe-driver.
Image: BNP Art Dept.
Indiana state labor department officials are investigating an unusual equipment-related accident at an overpass project in Elkhart County, Ind., on Jan. 18 in which pile or pipe-driving rig or its hammer struck a crew member in the head and killed him.
The employee, 31-year-old Michael Aaron Knotts, was pronounced dead at the site by firefighters called to the accident, according to a report by the county coroner.
Knotts, a member of carpenters' Local 1485 in La Porte, Ind., was employed by Rieth-Riley Construction, a major paving and highway contractor in Goshen, Ind. Company officials could not be reached for comment.
The columbus oh dump truck work involved a project known as the Sunnyside Overpass, which will carry traffic over railroad tracks.
Local media reports stated that Knotts was guiding placement of a pipe section when the rig hammer or rig struck him in the head.
According to the coroner's report, Knotts was "harnessed inside a cage directing a new pipe" into the rig when "for an unknown reason the device holding the hammer" failed and the hammer dropped and struck him. The coroner said firefighters removed Knotts from the cage and brought him to ground level.
A funeral home website described Knotts as having an "adventurous spirit" that "led him to recent success" when he achieved journey-level status. "Michael loved working for Reith-Riley, always striving to reach the next level," the website stated.
The accident is the second fatality involving a Rieth-Riley employee within the past year.
In May, a dump truck operated by a subcontractor at a columbus oh dump truck work zone in Lafayette, Ind., killed 53-year-old Dale Thomas. According to state labor officials, he was placing sample plates when the dump truck operator backed over him, inflicting fatal injuries. State officials proposed a penalty against Rieth-Riley of $7,000 for exposing Thomas to the crushing hazard.
It is not known if Rieth-Riley is contesting the penalty.
This article was update Feb. 4 to reflect that pipe, not pile, was being driven.
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Deputy Editor Richard Korman helps run ENR's business and legal news and investigations, selects ENR's commentary and oversees editorial content on ENR.com. In 2023 the American Society of Business Publication Editors awarded Richard the Stephen Barr Award, the highest honor for a single feature story or investigation, for his story on the aftermath of a terrible auto crash in Kentucky in 2019, and in 2015 the American Business Media awarded him the Timothy White Award for investigations of surety fraud and workplace bullying. A member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Richard has been a fellow on drone safety with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Richard's freelance writing has appeared in the Seattle Times, the New York Times, Business Week and the websites of The Atlantic and Salon.com. He admires construction projects that finish on time and budget, compensate all team members fairly and record zero fatalities or serious injuries.