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from the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER:
Worker dies after fall into Hershey’s-bound chocolate
A
temp worker at a Camden chocolate processing plant died this morning
after he fell into an eight-foot vat that was mixing and melting
chocolate to be used in Hershey's candy.
Vincent Smith II, 29, of Camden, was standing atop a platform and
tossing blocks of solid, raw chocolate into the tank, Jason Laughlin,
spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, said.
The tank was heated at 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and paddles inside stirred the chocolate as it was thrown in.
When Smith fell around 10:30 a.m., one of his thr
ee coworkers on the
platform immediately rushed to turn the machine off and the two others
tried to pull him out.
But Smith had been struck by one of the paddles, suffering fatal
injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and Camden firefighters
pulled his chocolate-covered body out of the tank.
Smith worked at a plant owned by Lyons & Sons, Inc., which is
contracted by Moorestown, NJ-based Cocoa Services, Inc. to process
chocolate. Laughlin said the plant, which was once a Campbell's Soup
Co. location, had been processing chocolate for six or seven years.
Laughlin said early investigation results indicate the death was
accidental. The mixing process was a daily task performed by the
workers, he said, and yesterday's batch would have been used in making
Hershey products.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it
was investigating the incident. Lyons & Sons does not have any
prior OSHA violations.
In July 2002, a 19-year-old worker died in a similar fashion when he
fell into a vat for mixing and melting chocolate at a plant in Hatfield
Township, Montgomery County.
An autopsy determined the man died of asphyxiation.
An
An
employee of Lyon & Sons in Camden, New Jersey died after falling
into a vat of hot chocolate on Wednesday, July 8, 2009. Shown is an
employee of the chocolate factory with his shirt and shorts covered in
chocolate. The man declined to
give his name when asked. (Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer)
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