Sewage Tank Accident Fatal
By VALERIE KALFRIN [email protected]
Published: Jul 14, 2004
TAMPA - For nearly 30 years, septic services contractor Kermit Dale Lancaster earned good money going places most people dread, his family said.
A former Marine, Lancaster, 67, joked about his gritty job but never complained about the work that supported his wife and three sons.
The Thonotosassa man died at Tampa General Hospital at 9:20 p.m. Monday after becoming trapped in an underground tank at Acorn Trace Apartments, 11115 N. Nebraska Ave., slipping neck-deep into sewage, officials said.
``It's pretty hard to deal with,'' his son, Troy Lancaster, 29, a St. Petersburg computer engineer, said Tuesday through sobs. ``You kind of hope for dignity at the end.''
The Tampa office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration plans to investigate his death, acting area director Brian Hennessy said.
OSHA's standards for confined spaces such as sewer systems require the area to be evaluated for hazards before an employee enters.
By VALERIE KALFRIN [email protected]
Published: Jul 14, 2004
TAMPA - For nearly 30 years, septic services contractor Kermit Dale Lancaster earned good money going places most people dread, his family said.
A former Marine, Lancaster, 67, joked about his gritty job but never complained about the work that supported his wife and three sons.
The Thonotosassa man died at Tampa General Hospital at 9:20 p.m. Monday after becoming trapped in an underground tank at Acorn Trace Apartments, 11115 N. Nebraska Ave., slipping neck-deep into sewage, officials said.
``It's pretty hard to deal with,'' his son, Troy Lancaster, 29, a St. Petersburg computer engineer, said Tuesday through sobs. ``You kind of hope for dignity at the end.''
The Tampa office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration plans to investigate his death, acting area director Brian Hennessy said.
OSHA's standards for confined spaces such as sewer systems require the area to be evaluated for hazards before an employee enters.
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