SC company where worker killed in shredder violated safety rules, OSHA report says. What to know

A state investigation into a Greer recycling plant after an employee fell into a shredder and died found 12 serious violations, resulting in a fine of $33,975.

The South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation Office of Occupational Safety and Health listed such violations as inadequate stairwell leading to the shredding machine, lack of danger signs and various problems with employee safety when having to access machinery. The agency also cited the company for not having a plan to alert medical and emergency aid.

Alex Gordon went missing May 5 while working the night shift on top of a shredding machine at Industrial Recovery and Recycling. He and his father, who was a supervisor at the plant, had just returned from a meal break.

The father, Michael Gordon, was called away to look at a problem with another machine and did not see what happened to his son. Another worker said he last saw Ale Gordon on top of a shredder.

The extensive OSHA report did not specifically address details of Gordon’s disappearance and presumed death, but instead looked at the situation that existed in June when an inspector visited. The report said the inspector could not confirm or deny that Gordon fell into the shredder but that it was possible.

Michael Gordon believes his son reached over a railing to get out something stuck in the machine and tumbled in.

Human material was found by authorities in two places near the machine. The shredder grinds up plastic waste to ultimately make pellets for reuse.

A forklift operator picks up bins full of plastic waste and dumps the waste into the top of the shredder. One of the citations listed by OSHA was that a forklift operator was not wearing a seat belt.

The report lists safety plans by company officials who gave the inspector a tour of the operation.

The inspector also interviewed employees, some of whom said they did not feel safe reporting injuries sustained on the job.

Included in the report is a step by step listing of everything and everyone the inspector talked with, from the first visit on June 16 until the conference on findings on Oct. 21.

The machine Alex Gordon was working on kept running for some time after he went missing. Some 60,000 pounds of material was processed in subsequent days.

Spartanburg deputies were called the night of the disappearance and human tissue was found. After results came back from analysis of the material three weeks later, the Coroner’s Office was called in.

Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said he could not issue a death certificate since there was no body.

Michael Gordon’s attorney George Brandt III has petitioned the Spartanburg County Probate Court to issue a declaration of death. It is the first step in getting the Department of Health and Environmental Control to issue a death certificate.

Brandt could not be reached for comment on whether the certificate has been issued or the result of a claim filed with the South Carolina Workers Compensation Commission.

The owners of Industrial Recovery and Recycling could not be reached for comment.