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Worker killed by belt cutter
By Angela Wilson
Officials are uncertain how a 34-year-old Springfield man became trapped in a machine just after midnight Saturday at Dayco Products Inc., killing him instantly.
Co-workers discovered the body of Gary Johnson when they noticed the cutter operator wasn't at his station, said Officer Kirk Manlove, spokesman for the Springfield Police Department. A cutter is similar to a lathe and cuts belts.
"The operation of the machine was a ways away from where the machine was at, so it's somewhat confusing" what happened, said David Brown, an investigator with the Greene County Medical Examiner's Office.
"We don't know when or if the safety features failed, and we don't know if he might have slipped or fell or he might have saw something happening and reached in there."
Officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate the incident.
Officials with Dayco declined to comment Saturday.
Officials said Johnson - who was recently certified to operate the machine - somehow became trapped underneath a metal hood and hydraulic arm.
He died instantly of a basal skull fracture - from ear to ear - and an autopsy revealed superficial wounds on his chest and back, Brown said.
No one heard anything at the time of the incident, Brown said. It was unclear if Johnson had hit or tried to hit safety beams that shut down the machine if triggered.
Police and medical examiner's officials worked for about an hour after the accident, talling to other employees. They also examined and operated the machine.
"We can't tell you how in the world he got in there or why he got in there," Brown said.
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