An upstate man who was last seen working at a recycling plant – believed to have fallen into a machine – has been declared legally dead. A Spartanburg judge delivered Tuesday’s ruling, Duncan Alexander Burrell Gordon’s father confirmed to WYFF News 4. Gordon was last seen on May 5 while working at Industrial Recovery and Recycling at 3100 Green Road in Greer. In June, Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said the coroner’s office had joined the South Carolina Department of Occupational Safety and Health in the investigation into his disappearance. Administration. Clevinger said at the time that without a body or more evidence, he couldn’t call it a death investigation. In July, Clevinger said the case revolved around a machine at the plant that had been viewed four times, including once when Gordon’s father was a supervisor at the plant. After an extensive investigation, Clevinger said his office was unable to issue a traditional death certificate on the matter. He said state regulations required another remedy for the family to be granted closure because there was no body. The family took the matter to court, which decided on the outcome on Tuesday. The family declined to issue a statement or answer any questions about the judge’s ruling. On November 27, the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation issued 12 citations for repossessions and repossessions against Industrial—all of which were labeled “serious.” One of the citations says the company “failed to provide one or more methods of machine guarding to protect operators and other employees.” Other citations say the company failed to provide training, maintenance and obtain the required permits to operate the machines. The company’s fines for these citations totaled nearly $34,000, according to SCDLLR filings. The company was last inspected by SCDLLR in March before the accident, documents show. According to the assessment document, inspectors found “a marked difference of opinion when it comes to IRRI’s commitment to safety.” “Some employees felt that management would respond to and address safety issues, while others felt that safety was not a priority over production. The survey itself determined that management demonstrated commitment to safety by establishing various safety programs and regulations; however , there are numerous deficiencies in the program that have diminished its impact on the workplace.” Inspectors also found deficiencies in safety requirements, including guardrails, citing “employees bypassing guardrails in order to climb onto shredders to perform specific tasks (cutting wires ready to be thrown in the shredder) because they said there was no other way.” To read the full inspection results, click here.
An upstate man who was last seen working at a recycling plant – believed to have fallen into a machine – has been declared legally dead.
A Spartanburg judge delivered the ruling Tuesday, the father of Duncan Alexander Burrell Gordon confirmed to WYFF News 4.
Gordon was last seen on May 5 while working at Industrial Recovery and Recycling at 3100 Green Road in Greer.
In June, Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said the coroner’s office had joined the South Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the investigation into his disappearance.
Clevinger said at the time that without a body or more evidence, he couldn’t call it a death investigation.
In July, Clevenger said the case revolved around a machine at the plant that had been viewed four times, including once by Gordon’s father, who had been the plant’s supervisor.
After an extensive investigation, Clevinger said his office was unable to issue a traditional death certificate on the matter.
State regulations require another remedy for the family to close because there are no bodies, he said.
The family took the matter to court, which will decide the outcome on Tuesday.
The family declined to issue a statement or answer any questions about the judge’s ruling.
On Nov. 27, the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation issued 12 tickets for industrial recovery and recycling — all of which were labeled “serious.”
One of the citations said the company “failed to provide one or more methods of machine guarding to protect operators and other employees.”
Other citations say the company failed to provide training, maintenance and obtain the required licenses to operate the machines.
According to the SCDLLR filing, the company’s fines from the subpoenas totaled nearly $34,000.
The company was last inspected by SCDLLR in March before the accident, documents show.
Inspectors found “significant differences of opinion when it comes to IRRI’s commitment to safety,” according to the assessment document. “Some employees felt that management would respond to and address safety issues, while others felt that safety was not a priority over production. The survey itself determined that management demonstrated commitment to safety by establishing various safety programs and regulations; however , there are many flaws in the program that undercut its impact on the workplace.”
Inspectors also found deficiencies in safety requirements, including guardrails, citing “employees bypassing the guardrails to climb onto the shredder to perform a specific task (cutting wires from product to be dumped into the shredder) because they said there was no other way.”
To read the full inspection results, click here.
