Failures leading to death of Baltimore sanitation worker Ronald Silver detailed in investigation
A new investigation by Baltimore City's Inspector General details the harrowing final moments of Ronald Silver II, a sanitation worker who died of heat exhaustion on the job in August 2024.
The report reveals multiple missed warning signs leading to Silver's death.
Silver died on August 2, 2024, while working in dangerous heat. On that day, temperatures reportedly reached 100 degrees, and the heat index was approximately 108 degrees.
According to DPW records, Silver's crew had 1,153 pickup stops, which was above the industry's standard of 950.
DPW workers said exhaust fumes increased temperatures behind the truck, and that many DPW trucks had inadequate air-conditioning, or no functioning A/C at all.
Travis Christian, the other worker on Silver's truck, told the OIG that the A/C in their car did not have a cooling effect.
According to Christian's account of the day, Silver started feeling unwell around 11 a.m.
He said he encouraged Silver to rest in the truck because he was having trouble walking, but Silver told him he was concerned that the truck driver would report him to management.
In another investigation by the OIG, officials found that employees feared retaliation from supervisors for not completing routes when they were feeling sick.
"Over and over, we heard that the family was not told of things and so we wanted to make sure before this report was released to the public, we actually met with the family and let them know what happened," Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren.
The video
New images show the trash truck Ronald Silver was working in a narrow alley off East 25th Street when he collapsed.
His gloves were left behind after his body gave up.
In the report, Silver's co-worker Travis Christian describes "finding Silver lying face down on the ground with scrapes on his hands and elbows" and "going in and out of consciousness." He says Silver's body was "limp and lifeless as he lifted him into the truck."
"It corroborated the truth. It showed that what people were telling us was exactly what happened," Cumming said.
Cumming's office had warned of dangerous conditions within the Department of Public Works before Silver's death.
"Until Mr. Silver passed, there was zero heat training for the laborers and the drivers. Zero." Cumming said. "That can't happen again."
Failure to call 911
The investigation found that the driver of the trash truck failed to call 911. Silver later knocked on a door for help, and a concerned citizen called 911 three times before getting through and later performed CPR.
The truck driver called a supervisor.
According to the report, he later told the citizen who helped him, "I believed Silver was being lazy and… did not want to finish his shift."
"Any time along the way, people should have realized what's the right thing to do, what do we need to do, is call 911," the inspector general said. "When someone falls out of a truck, you call 911 or you call your supervisor. You do something. And that's what has to happen, and that's what they are being trained now to do."
Attorney Thiru Vignarajah, who represents Silver's family, told Hellgren, "One of the hardest things to read in this report was that the truck driver was telling civilians that Ronnie was lazy, that he was faking his symptoms. That he was drinking or smoking all day—when later—when pressed by the inspector general, he acknowledged that none of that was true."
Vignarajah criticized how the situation was handled.
"On a day like that, for the truck driver, for no city official, for no supervisor to have the wherewithal to call 911–for a neighbor who he was desperately begging for help to have to call 911, it is horrifying to see the complete lack of and appreciation for the humanity of this city worker on display," Vignarajah said.
Co-worker speaks
In November 2024, WJZ Investigates spoke to Travis Christian, who worked alongside Silver and also collapsed.
A still image in the report shows him becoming disoriented, trying to get home the day Silver died.
Christian previously described trying to save Silver.
"I turned him over, and when I turned him over, his eyes were rolling in the back of his head. He was rolling in and out of consciousness back and forth," he said at a November news conference. "He was screaming, 'Help, pick me up! Help, pick me up!' And it took me like three attempts because I was beat. I couldn't just lift him up on the first attempt. When I did get him off the ground, I picked him up and I held his body up against my arm like this and I carried him up to the trash truck. I don't know how I did it."
Warning signs
The report said Silver became sick in the heat two days before his death and called out of work the day before he died.
According to the report, "A DPW Supervisor (Supervisor 1) said they called Silver early in the morning on Thursday, August 1, 2024, to see if he was coming to work. Phone records support them calling Silver that morning at 6:42 a.m. Silver told Supervisor 1 that he got off work the night prior around 8:36 p.m. and was not feeling well. According to Supervisor 1, Silver told them he was cramping but could get to Cherry Hill by 7 a.m. that day. Supervisor 1 said they told Silver to stay home and hydrate himself. Supervisor 1 said they informed Silver that his absence on August 1 would be marked as a Safe and Sick day."
The day he died, Silver told Christian he feared he would face retaliation if he complained about being ill.
"According to Christian, Silver told him he was on probation and feared he would lose his job or receive a write-up if he stopped working. Christian also said Silver shared that he had a family to support," the report states. "During the OIG's investigation into the workplace culture, numerous employees expressed similar fears of being reprimanded by supervisors for not completing routes when feeling sick."
DPW response
The new DPW director told WJZ's Dennis Valera recently he is implementing reforms and new training and is working to change the agency's culture.
"We need to get [supervisors and managers] to understand that what you've done in the past is in the past. There is a new requirement [to abide by], there are new safety [requirements to check]," Baltimore City Department of Public Works Director Khalil Zaied said.
The inspector general said she will make sure he keeps his word.
"The Office of the Inspector General is the people's watchdog, so I can assure you that the Office of the Inspector General is not letting this go," Cumming said. "We will not stop until we feel this has been corrected."
In a response posted online, Zaied wrote, "The Baltimore City Department of Public Works ("DPW") continues to mourn the loss of Ronald Silver II, a valued member of our Solid Waste Bureau. Our thoughts remain with his family, friends, colleagues, and the broader community as they continue to navigate this profound loss."
"This tragedy has forever changed our agency. It has reinforced the urgent need to examine and strengthen our policies, procedures, and practices to ensure that every member of our workforce is protected. Mr. Silver's passing is a stark reminder of the critical role safety must play in our daily operations, and it has fueled our resolve to build a stronger, more accountable safety culture within DPW."
You can read more here.
Cumming said Maryland Occupational Safety and Health, the agency regulating workplace safety, is not allowed to fine government agencies, which she calls "shocking."
DPW cited for lack of heat safety measures
On March 10, DPW was cited with a "serious violation" by the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Agency (MOSH) for failing to protect employees from dangerous heat conditions.
In a separate OIG investigation completed earlier this month, officials found that "DPW did not have a heat policy in the years leading up to and throughout the Summer of 2024" and that heat illnesses at DPW had increased yearly, from eight cases in 2021 to 12 in 2024.
A July 2024 investigation by the OIG conducted before Silver's death revealed that employees had been working in sweltering heat without being provided cold water or access to a cooling facility.
Has DPW made changes since the death of Ronald Silver?
The Baltimore Department of Public Works said it has implemented new safety measures since Silver's death.
Those measures include the development of standard operating procedures for extreme weather conditions, like protocols for both extreme heat and cold, as well as new accident notification procedures.
DPW officials said they have a "renewed focus on employee training" in the areas of workplace safety, compliance and risk management, and leadership development.
The department also said it allocated $20 million for facility upgrades at multiple Bureau of Solid Waste locations where employees report for work.
