A Baltimore Department of Public Works solid waste worker died on the job Friday, the department announced, nearly three months after the death of DPW crew member Ronald Silver II.

Timothy Cartwell, assigned to the Reedbird Sanitation Yard, “sustained fatal injuries” while collecting garbage in a Sandtown-Winchester alleyway, according to a DPW news release. Baltimore Police said Cartwell was attempting to recover trash from a bin when he became trapped between a garbage truck and a wooden light pole.

Officers were dispatched around 10:30 a.m. Friday to an area hospital to investigate a vehicle accident. After arriving at the hospital, officers learned that Cartwell became trapped while collecting garbage. Medics responded to the scene and brought Cartwell to the hospital, where he died from his injuries. The Accident Investigation Unit took control of the investigation, police said.

Crash team investigators were on the scene of the alleyway on the 1800 block of Baker Street in West Baltimore Saturday afternoon.

“My heart did drop, because, again, it is another employee of ours who’s doing a job that people rarely understand the intensiveness of,” said James Torrence, Baltimore City councilman for District 7, which includes the neighborhood where Cartwell was killed.

DPW leadership visited the hospital and remains committed to supporting employees affected by Cartwell’s death, the release said. Counseling services are available to staff through the city’s Employee Assistance Program.

“We are devastated by the loss of one of our DPW family, Timothy Cartwell. I’ve spoken with members of his family and extended the heartbreak that the entire City of Baltimore shares with them,” Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott said in a statement posted on X.

Cartwell’s death comes three months after Ronald Silver II, a 36-year-old father of five, collapsed on the job on a nearly 100-degree day in early August. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later determined that Silver died from hyperthermia, when the body becomes dangerously overheated. Silver’s family called for a swift investigation and a public hearing, requesting immediate action from the City Council and DPW.

During an August news conference, Baltimore City Council members Zeke Cohen, Isaac Schleifer and Antonio Glover called for hearings and reforms, including hiring more DPW staff and establishing an investigator dedicated to looking at DPW workplace safety concerns within the Office of the Inspector General. Union leaders also laid out demands for the city.

“Every worker deserves to know that they’ll return home safely each day. I’m committed to working with Councilmembers Glover, Schleifer and the entire City Council to make sure our employees have safe work places and are treated with respect,” Cohen said in a statement in response to Cartwell’s death.

Torrence said he had limited details about the incident and is waiting for more information to come from the investigation to see what additional safety measures can be implemented as they continue the previous efforts. DPW has kept its promise of performing safety checks on staff while on their routes, Torrence said, and he has received data from the checks.

Following Silver’s death, Scott and DPW Acting Director Khalil Zaied hired a D.C.-based law firm to conduct an independent review of the agency’s safety policies amid the calls for action. The review found that Silver received no training about extreme temperatures and heat-related illnesses. The review detailed the city’s reform efforts, including a draft Heat Illness Prevention Plan that was submitted.

In July, Baltimore’s Office of the Inspector General released a report detailing poor working conditions to keep laborers cool and hydrated. The report listed that at the Cherry Hill sanitation facility where Silver worked, the OIG found warm water bottles, broken ice machines, a cold-water faucet running hot water and other issues. Similar conditions were found at other facilities in a follow-up report.