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Lumberyard Machinery Crushes Man, Authorities Say

PAUL LAMISON / News Channel 8

Hillsborough County deputies responded to Robbins Manufacturing Co. Inc. Monday morning.

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 29, 2007

Updated: 10/29/2007 02:40 pm

TAMPA - Investigators from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration are looking into the circumstances surrounding the death of a man fatally crushed by machinery at a lumber yard this morning.

Rescuers responded to Robbins Manufacturing Co. Inc. at 13001 N. Nebraska Ave. about 7:51 a.m. after a 911 call, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokesman Ray Yeakley said.

They discovered that the man had been struck by a board, which knocked him into a belt that pulled him into another machine, crushing him, Yeakley said.

The sheriff's office identified the man as Raleigh D. Wilson, 48, of 40026 Proud Mockingbird Road, Zephyrhills.

Jay Robbins, a corporate secretary for the company, said Wilson had worked at the company for about 18 months.

"It was over very quick. It's just a tragedy," Robbins said.

Sheriff's detectives and inspectors from OSHA are on-site, interviewing co-workers to determine what happened, Robbins said.

A grief counselor also is on-site speaking with witnesses, Robbins said. "Some of the people who witnessed it are taking it pretty hard," he said.

Robbins, who has been with the company more than 30 years, said he could recall no other incidents of similar magnitude.

The company has been in Tampa since 1938 and mostly handles pressure-treated material, Robbins said.

OSHA records show two violations at the company in 2002 for "mechanical power-transmission apparatus." The company was fined $1,300 for each offense, records show.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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