The driver's front blade was elevated, obscuring his view, deputies said.
A Florida father-of-three has been crushed to death in a tragic workplace accident.
Aaron Henderson, 40, was inside a porta-potty at the North Central Landfill on Friday evening when a coworker accidentally ran it over in a bulldozer, according to authorities.
Henderson had only started work at the site a few weeks ago, where he was employed as a "spotter", tasked with providing traffic control for the incoming and outgoing dump trucks.
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View StoryAccording to Polk County Sheriff's office, at around 5:10 PM, at the end of the regular workday, one of the drivers was moving his bulldozer up an embankment to "heavy equipment staging area" to park it.
But the front blade was elevated to a height of 3-4 feet, obscuring his view, deputies said; after reaching the top of the incline to level ground, he began turning the bulldozer, when he heard a loud crumbling sound. Looking back, he realized he had run over a temporary toilet.
He immediately ran back to see if anyone was inside; tragically, there was. Henderson was found unresponsive.
The site foreman called 911 and paramedics rushed to the site, but it was too late. Henderson died at the scene.
The medical examiner ruled the death accidental, Fox13 reported.
County officials said it was the first fatality in the site's history.
"The Landfill is a dynamic, industrial environment with movement of hundreds of trucks coming to unload and heavy equipment at the Landfill all day long," County Manager Bill Beasley said. "We have never experienced anything like this here."
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View StoryThe Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating, but said it appears to be a "tragic, industrial accident."
Aaron's older brother Lenard Henderson told the outlet the dad, who had just turned 40, had recently turned his life around and was excited to have a job he enjoyed.
"He came up in the streets a little bit and he was tired of living like that," he said. "He wanted to have a responsible and be a responsible person."
"Your brother was here the other day, just happy, and then all of a sudden you never see him again."
"At the end of the day, we don't know what happened, but we just want to know the truth," he added. "So we hope they do a thorough investigation, you know what I'm saying? All we want is the truth."
Aaron leaves behind his three young sons.
"He had a good life here with me, Adrian, and my other brother," his heartbroken 10-year-old boy said. "He's in a better place now."