Abstract: An employee was operating a Piona Machine fixed trash compactor. The compactor had a drop-in collection push pit that was approximately 6 feet wide, 5 feet high and 4 feet deep and was attached to a 40-cubic-yard receiving container. The employee's body was found in the nearly full container between the push plate and the compacted material. There were no witnesses to this accident, but it appears that he either fell into or otherwise entered the floor level pit while the push pit ram was still in operation. It had been set into the automatic mode. The steel floor was slippery around the push pit and there was no point of operation guarding in place. The employee died as a result of his injuries.