MACON, Ga. — A man is dead after a workplace accident at a south Bibb distribution center.
Coroner Leon Jones says it happened Thursday morning around 9:30 a.m. at the Tractor Supply Distribution Center on Tractor Drive.
He says 911 and the fire department were called, and they found 55-year-old David Butler trapped between a gun safe and forklift.
Jones says Butler was moving the gun safe and the accident happened when he stopped.
"[It] looked like he was trying to adjust the safe or something of that nature, and it fell and pinned him between the forklift and the gun safe. He was pronounced deceased by Deputy Coroner Luann Stone," said Jones.
He adds OSHA is coming to help with the investigation.
13WMAZ reached out to Tractor Supply for a statement. They said the following:
"We are deeply saddened by this tragic situation and our hearts go out to the deceased Team Member, their families, loved ones and other Team Members. We are fully cooperating with local authorities.
The safety and security of our Team Members is the top priority for Tractor Supply. We work hard to ensure that our workplace has the training, protocols and systems in place to keep our Team Members safe. We will continue to support and assist the family impacted as well as our Team Members in every way possible as they begin to recover from today’s terrible situation."
According to OSHA's website, they investigate more than 5,000 deaths on the job each year. That's about 15 a day nationwide, and one out of five happen on construction sites.
In the last few years, OSHA has fined several companies for fatal accidents at Central Georgia worksites.
They include: Nichiha, where a worker was crushed on a production line; Gilmer Warehouse, where a woman was pinned between two giant paper rolls; C.W. Matthews (a contractor for the interchange project) where a construction worker fell 34-feet from a scaffold; and Pearson Farms in Fort Valley where a worker was hit in the head by a forklift.
Pearson was hit with a $66,000 fine after investigators found more than a dozen safety violations.
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