For the second time this month, the Port of Tacoma was
temporarily shut down March 25 after a longshore worker died on the job.
In the latest incident, refrigerator mechanic Dana Gorham
died about 8 am March 25 while working at the APM Terminal. According to port workers,
Gorham was working from a five-foot ladder when he fell from the ladder,
possibly after being shocked by a nearby electrical cable. According to the
Pierce County Medical Examiner’s office, the 57-year-old Gorham had an enlarged
heart and the cause of death was heart disease.
International Longshore Union Local 23, Gorham’s employer
and the state Department of Labor and Industries all say the incident will be
investigated.
Following the death, longshore workers followed a custom reserved
for on-the-job fatalities and shut down all operations for 24 hours. ILWU
members were reportedly back on the job at about 8 am March 26.
Gorham had worked for Pacific Crane Maintenance, the same
company that had employed a man who died March 12 while working at the port’s
Pierce County Terminal.
In the March 12 incident, 46-year-old crane mechanic Jeff
Surber died around noon while atop a crane he had been maintaining at Pierce
County Terminal. He was making adjustments to the wire ropes used to raise the
metal containers to and from the ship’s deck, according to the ILWU.
The medical examiner’s report said Surber died of blunt
force trauma to the head. The incident, like the March 25 death, is being
investigated by the union, Pacific Crane and the Labor Dept.
