Johnny Tolliver, 52, had worked with the Berkeley Zero Waste division for about 25 years as public waste commission worker before his death while at work. He died of what appears as workplace failures. He got crushed under his garbage truck. Investigative report of the incident was issued by the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health on June 22. The report found city did not meet various safety standards for its workers. This led OSHA to issue eight citations against the city of Berkeley.

The Berkeley will appeal for the citations that stated city failed to provide a separate cover for a circuit breaker, check the garbage truck at the beginning of each shift as required by law and to ensure adequate training programs. It will appeal to six of eight citations regarding issues such as training procedures for employees and will exclude the citations regarding the circuit breaker and conducting inspections of the trucks from appeal.

On the day of the incident, Tolliver and a co-worker parked their truck in Berkeley Hills. While they picked up trash cans, they left the gear lever on neutral without engaging the parking brake. Consequently, the vehicle rolled downhill and the workers ran after the vehicle. In process, Tolliver was crushed by the truck and was sent to the Oakland Highland Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“We’ve been looking at a number of different practices and policies to see how we can improve workplace safety for employees. Whatever we can do to ensure that something like this does not happen, we will try to do,” said city spokesperson Matthai Chakko.

According to a report in Dailycal by Lillian Dong, "The city of Berkeley will appeal citations by the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or OSHA, regarding the recent death of public waste commission worker Johnny Tolliver, Sr. after he was crushed and killed by his garbage truck."

According to OSHA's report, Tolliver, 52, and a co-worker parked their truck in Berkeley Hills while picking up trash cans and left the gear lever on neutral without engaging the parking brake. The vehicle rolled downhill, and the workers ran after the vehicle.

OSHA was notified and began its investigation on the day of the accident, and it proposed eight penalties totaling $98,425, ranging from $560 to $22,500. The two largest fines, both at $22,500, were for not ensuring that the vehicle was under positive control during all periods of operation and the parking brake was set when the truck was parked.

"Trimming or removing trees should be done with caution, particularly near power lines, the U. S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says," according to a recent Tucson report.

In many cases, such work is probably best left to the professionals. For instance, any tree work within 10 feet of a power line must only be performed by experienced and trained line-clearance tree trimmers. At least two people must perform the work and must be within normal voice communication range, the agency explained in a news release.

Always assume all power lines are energized. Contact the utility companies to find out if they need to de-energize and ground or shield power lines before tree work begins, OSHA said.