OSHA to probe fatal Hempfield tractor accident

Federal workplace safety regulators will investigate the fatal accident that killed a man driving a tractor that overturned into a creek at a Hempfield nursery on Thursday, an agency spokeswoman said.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will conduct the investigation into the death of Clifford E. Schweinsburg Jr., 79, of Hempfield, said Joanna Hawkins, an OSHA spokeswoman.

Schweinsburg was mowing grass along Township Line Run on the Jason Wilkinson Nursery when the farm tractor fell from the embankment and tumbled into the creek, said Coroner Tim Carson. Westmoreland County 911 said he was pinned by the overturned tractor.

The reason for the accident, which was reported about 5:40 p.m., is unknown, Carson said.

OSHA has up to six months to complete the investigation into the fatal accident, Hawkins said. Jason Wilkinson Nursery does not have any prior OSHA inspection history, Hawkins said.

A spokesman for Jason Wilkinson Nursery along Route 819 in Armbrust could not be reached for comment Friday.

The cause and manner of Schweinsburg’s death is pending the results of an autopsy that conducted Friday, that included toxicology tests, Carson said.

No information was available Friday from the state police at Greensburg, who investigated the accident.

Hempfield firefighters from the Midway-St. Clair department assisted at the scene, along with firefighters from Youngwood and New Stanton.

Anthony Kovacic, Hempfield Township fire chief, could not be reached for comment Friday.

The Leo M. Bacha Funeral Home in Southwest Greensburg is in charge of the funeral arrangements, Carson said.