Loved ones remember industrial site worker
Danbury man killed after being trapped in conveyor belt
NEW MILFORD — Loved ones of the 29-yearold Danbury man killed in an industrial accident Friday remembered him as one of the good guys.
Daniel Kendrick died after becoming trapped in a conveyor belt system at New Milford Block & Supply, where he worked as a production operator for about eight months, according to his Facebook page.
“He’s a funny, nice guy,” said Shelby Pritchard, who met Kendrick five years ago through her son’s father and Kendrick’s cousin, Dwight Johnson. “I’m lucky to have him as a friend. Anyone is. He would have done anything for anyone.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the incident and the masonry company has previously been cited for several OSHA violations in 2018 and 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Kendrick started working at the company in October and “loved what he did,” Pritchard said Monday, just a couple hours before a vigil she and Johnson organized in Gaylordsville.
Kendrick lived in Danbury at the time of his death with his cousin and uncle, but was originally from Florida. Pritchard said she wanted to have an opportunity for his friends, family and co-workers up here to honor his life because a lot of people won’t be able to go to Florida for the memorial.
“Daniel made friends with everyone,” she said, describing him as caring and charismatic. “He was a loving uncle, cousin, nephew, son, brother and friend. He was taken from us way to young.”
She said Johnson, 22, and Kendrick were really close and more like brothers than cousins.
“You will be missed and you are loved and always will be. I love you and miss you very much. I can’t believe you have left us so soon,” Johnson wrote on Facebook. “You always gave me the best advice when I was lost and down. I am still wishing that this was just a horrible nightmare and I can wake up.”
Pritchard said Kendrick was very involved in her son’s life and would spend a lot of time with him and Johnson, including playing on the playground next to her home and going to the zoo. Her son, Carter, turns three next month.
“He loved him like his own,” she said. “They would sit there and play on the swing and the slide.”
Fire and EMS were dispatched to 574 Danbury Road around 6 p.m. Friday for a report of an unconscious man trapped in a conveyor. The call came in about an hour after the business closed to the public.
The man was “wrapped up in some kind of conveyor pulley belt” and in cardiac arrest, the dispatch said.
Firefighters from several companies, including Brookfield’s volunteer company, responded to the scene for heavy rescue.
The medical examiner ruled Kendrick’s death accidental and said he died from blunt compression injury to his head and torso.
Lt. Lawrence Ash said New Milford police won’t have any new information until the Occupational Safety and Health Administration completes its investigation.
“The Hartford Area Office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened an inspection at New Milford Block and Supply … upon being notified of the fatality,” an OSHA spokesperson said Monday morning.
New Milford Block & Supply manufactures and distributes masonry products like pavers, brick, natural stone and block for businesses, cities, schools and homes.
The company is owned by The Monfort Group, which also has locations in Fishkill and New Windsor, N.Y.
“OSHA is gathering information to determine whether or not there were any violations of workplace safety standards in connection with this incident,” the OSHA spokesperson said. Specifics of the investigation were not shared, but OSHA has six months to complete it.
New Milford Block & Supply has a history of OSHA citations.
In 2018, the company was cited for violations pertaining to machine guarding, general requirements for machine guards, temporary wiring and sprocket wheels and chains.
The company was fined
$5,497 for the violations, but it was reduced to $3,848 through informal settlements.
In 2013, New Milford Block & Supply was cited for violations pertaining to guarding of floor and wall openings and holes, machine guarding requirements and lateral stability of powered industrial trucks.
The company was fined
$10,255 for the violations, but that amount was reduced to $6,153 through informal settlements.
“Daniel made friends with everyone. He was a loving uncle, cousin, nephew, son, brother and friend. He was taken from us way to young.”