A 19-year-old died after a concrete mixer he was inside cleaning was accidentally started up. His employers could have prevented his death, the Labor Department says.

• A 19-year-old worker suffered "fatal injuries" after cleaning out a concrete mixer, the Department of Labor says.
• The machine restarted while he was inside, the DOL said.
• The DOL called his death a "preventable tragedy" and proposed penalties totalling $245,546.

A company could have prevented the death of a 19-year-old worker caused by a concrete pan mixer starting with him inside, the Department of Labor claims.

The DOL said that in March, two workers at a site in Cantonment, northwest Florida climbed inside the mixer to clean it by chipping away hardened concrete using a hammer and chisel.

"As one of the workers left the mixer, the machine restarted with the other inside," causing him to suffer "fatal injuries," the DOL said.