A worker who was guiding bulldozers at a landfill site has been crushed to death inside a portable toilet after taking a loo break.

The dead man has been named as Aaron Henderson, 43, who worked as a traffic control contractor and who died after the bulldozer crushed the toilet.

He was working for the company CertiTemp, based at the Polk County Landfill in the city of Winter Haven in Polk County in the US state of Florida.

Henderson was killed while using the portable toilet by the bulldozer operator as the site was closing for the day on 4th March.

The police were called to the scene at around 5pm after the victim’s remains were found in the flattened portable loo.

According to the police, Henderson had been directing the final vehicles in and out of the landfill to dump loads while preparing to close for the day.

The bulldozer operator was reportedly driving up an embankment to park the vehicle for the night with its front bucket raised high enough that it partially blocked his view.

At the top of the slope, the driver turned and heard a crumpling sound, soon realising that he had flattened a portable toilet he had failed to see, according to reports.

A police spokesperson said: “He immediately exited the bulldozer and ran towards the porta-potty to see if anyone was inside of it. At that time, he observed Henderson unresponsive inside”, adding that it was a “tragic, industrial accident”.

Martha Santiago, spokesperson for North Central Landfill, said: “Last night’s incident was a tragic accident. Our board asks that you keep the family and friends of the deceased in your thoughts and prayers.”

The victim’s death is the only reported onsite fatality in the landfill’s history.

The investigation is ongoing.