The leg of an East Ridge city employee became wedged in his sanitation truck’s “compacting mechanism,” leading the man’s rescuer — a former East Ridge sanitation worker himself — to question cost-saving policies enacted by city officials.
“You shouldn’t be alone on a garbage truck,” Jerry Ensley said.
While clearing a jam in his garbage truck Monday afternoon on Camp Jordan Road, George Scarborough became entangled by debris, according to a news release issued by the city. The truck’s compacting mechanism began to cycle, pulling Scarborough into the compacting area, the release said.
As it happened, Ensley, who worked Scarborough’s job from 2005 to 2008, was taking his garbage to his curb. When he heard “screams from George,” Ensley said Scarborough directed him to “push a black button under such-and-such, crank the motor up, turn the black button off and so on” until the mechanism stopped churning.
“What if I wouldn’t have been there?” Ensley asked. “I knew a little about that truck. The guy could have lost his leg; he could have bled out. The average citizen, they might have panicked or not known what button to push. I was at the right place at the right time.”
East Ridge Fire Rescue and police units responded to the scene after several 911 calls. They “extricated the employee from the truck mechanism” and took Scarborough to Parkridge East Hospital, “but he did not appear to have suffered any life-threatening injuries,” the city release said.
Ensley said the “safety of city employees should be their main concern,” referring to personnel cuts made by the City Council in 2009.
Eight full-time positions and four part-time positions were eliminated that year to create savings, according to city minutes from a budget workshop May 7, 2009.
A memo written by former City Manager William Whitson recommends “the purchase of two new automated garbage trucks that can be operated with one employee instead of three employees.”
One of three “advantages to automated garbage service” is that it’s “much safer — one employee operates vehicle instead of three. Employees no longer have to ride on back of truck, which will result in further workers’ compensation insurance savings,” the memo says.
Interim City Manager Eddie Phillips’ name appeared on the bottom of Monday’s news release, but he did not respond to several phone messages for further comment.
Councilmen approved the truck purchases and layoffs as part of a unanimous budget vote for fiscal year 2009-10. The sanitation personnel cuts saved $222,424, city documents show.
Mayor Brent Lambert said he didn’t regret voting for the cuts, calling automated service “safer overall.”
“Certainly we’re grateful that someone could help, but I don’t know that a three-man crew could prevent what happened,” Lambert said. “He could have made a mistake and did something he wasn’t supposed to do. We’ll know after an investigation.”
Contact staff writer Chris Carroll at ccarroll@times freepress.com or 423-757-6610.