Worker Killed In Rock Crusher At Swampscott, Massachusetts Industrial Site

A worker was killed in an industrial accident involving a rock crusher at a Swampscott, Massachusetts site, according to the Essex County District Attorney's Office. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.

The crusher was operating on commercial aggregate. The worker's name has not been publicly released.

The DA's office said it is treating the death as a workplace fatality and is coordinating with state and federal investigators.

What rock crushers do, and how they kill

A rock crusher reduces stone aggregate to specified sizes for use in concrete, asphalt, road base, and other construction materials. The machines are large, fast-moving, and powerful. The crushing chamber contains either jaws (for primary crushers), cones (for secondary), or rotating impactors (for tertiary). The forces involved are catastrophic to anyone caught in the equipment.

Worker fatalities in aggregate processing typically fall into a few categories:

• Caught-in/between: a worker drawn into the crusher, conveyor, or pinch point, often during attempted clearing of a jam or blockage
• Struck-by: a worker hit by flying rock or by equipment parts during failure
• Falls: from the elevated platforms surrounding the equipment
• Engulfment: in stockpiles of crushed material

The single most common factor in caught-in fatalities is the absence or failure of lockout-tagout — the procedure that ensures equipment is de-energized and cannot restart before any worker enters the crushing area.

OSHA's lockout-tagout standard, 29 CFR 1910.147, has been on the books since 1989. It is the fifth most-cited OSHA standard year after year.

Aggregate processing falls under MSHA, not OSHA

A jurisdictional note: many aggregate processing operations are regulated by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), not OSHA, depending on whether the facility is classified as a mine. Aggregate quarries are mines. Some downstream processing facilities are not. The site's classification determines which agency has primary authority.

MSHA recently issued a fatality alert following a January 6 incident that killed a contract worker at a California cement plant. A 2025 quarry fatality at the Coleman quarry in Atoka County, Oklahoma — where John Bird, 41, died when a telehandler overturned onto him — also remains in the agency's investigative record.

What investigators will examine

The Essex County DA's office is involved because Massachusetts treats workplace fatalities as potential criminal matters when there is evidence of gross negligence. The DA's investigation is separate from the federal regulatory probe.

Investigators will examine:

• Whether the crusher had been properly locked out before the worker entered
• The chain of supervision and authorization for the work being performed
• The maintenance history of the equipment
• Whether the worker had received training appropriate to the task
• Whether prior incidents or near-misses had been reported

Citations and possibly criminal charges can follow.

We'll publish more as the investigations advance.