MACON, Ga. — A Macon man died after being crushed in machinery at a south Macon factory.
Bibb County coroner Leon Jones said it happened just before 8 a.m. Wednesday at the Nichiha USA plant on Avondale Mill Road.
He said Willie Bonner, 59, died about an hour later at Medical Center, Navicent Health.
Jones says Bonner worked for a temp service, Premier Staffing Unlimited.
He says Bonner was knocked back by a robotic arm onto a conveyor belt, and then crushed by a machine.
The plant, owned by a Japanese corporation, manufactures fiber-cement panels. About 200 people work at the plant.
Around 5:40 p.m., Nichiha issued a statement that says:
This morning, October 16, 2019, around 8:00 a.m., a temporary worker at our Macon, Ga., plant lost his life. Our hearts are with the family and friends of Willie Bonner, who has been working with the company since August 2019. Mr. Bonner’s family has been notified, and grief counselors are onsite for our employees.
The details of the incident are under active investigation with the assistance of both local law enforcement and the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and all employees within Nichiha are cooperating with these efforts.
We will continue to update with new information as it becomes available.
We are saddened and shocked by this loss of life, and are committed to doing all we can to understand how this tragedy occurred and to prevent it from happening again.
We offer our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Bonner.
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