Workplace Accidents Kill Employees in Rubber Plant, Battery, Recycling Plants

Safety at Work

Mesa, AZ (WorkersCompensation.com) – Employees in a rubber plant, an EV battery plant and a recycling plant were killed in workplace accidents this month.

In Mesa, Ariz., officials said an employee of a rubber plant was killed in an accident overnight on May 20. The employee was working at CRM of America is a crumb rubber plant that makes crumb rubber for rubberized asphalt sports fields, track infill and rubber-molded products.

Mesa Police said the victim, Daryl Reinertson, 64, fell into a piece of equipment and got trapped inside of it. Reinertson was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the police report. The incident was under investigation but was thought to be an accident.

The incident is under investigation by the Arizona Department of Occupational Safety and Health. Officials said the investigation could take as much as six months.

In Savannah, Ga., an unsecured load fell off of a forklift and killed a construction worker at an electric vehicle battery plant next to the Hyundai Metaplant.

Officials said the accident happened just before 11 a.m. at HL-GA Battery, a manufacturing facility under construction that will ultimately be operated by Hyundai and LG Energy Solutions. The facility is expected to open next year and will supply EV batteries to the recently opened Hyundai plant.

Officials said the victim was an employee of a subcontractor working on the plant’s construction. Hyundai expressed its condolences to the victim’s family.

“The health and safety of everyone at our facilities and construction sites is our highest priority. Our direct employees as well as our subcontractors understand our commitment to safety and Occupational Industrial Safety and Health policies,” Hyundai’s director of public relations and communication, Michael Stewart, said in a statement. “Together with the subcontractor and relevant authorities, we are fully supporting a thorough investigation to determine the root cause of the incident and to help prevent such accidents in the future.”

It is the second death at the plant in two months. On March 21, another man, Sunbok You, was hit by a forklift and dragged 10 to 15 feet, causing his body to be severed in half.

And it’s the third death since construction began in late 2022. Contractor Victor Gamboa fell 60-feet to his death at the Metaplant’s construction site in April 2023. Officials said Gamboa was wearing fall protection gear but the safety line he had attached failed on the edge of a steel beam. Eastern Constructors Inc. was cited by OSHA in Gamboa’s death for providing worn, damaged and inadequate safety gear.

Other worksite accidents included a worker injured in a pipe explosion and a Korean-speaking technician who suffered a crushed chest, a deformed hand and a mangled leg in a conveyor belt accident.

Tuesday’s death is under investigation. Bryan County sheriff’s office initially said the worker was killed when the forklift was loading a truck. The victim was on the ground nearby when the materials that were being loaded became unsecured and fell on the victim.

And in San Francisco, a worker at a recycling plant died at the plant.

Officials said Alfredo Romero, 61, a mechanic at Recology, a recycling plant, died at the facility. While officials at the company had not released details of the incident, Romero’s family said it was an accident that could have been prevented.

His daughter, Michelle, said other workers at the plant told the family Romero was on the back of one of the company’s trucks in the shop working on it when the accident happened. No details about the incident were released.

“It feels like something that really should have been prevented," Michelle said.

She said that the family would hear complaints about the plant and the company “cutting corners on expenses" when the workers needed new equipment. "But I don't really know what is relevant in this particular instance," she said.

Romero was a member of Teamsters Local 350. The union sent a letter to the employee-owned company asking for transparency and called the loss of Romero “a heartbreaking reminder that the waste industry remains one of the most dangerous professions in the country.”

A spokesperson from Recology said in a statement, “We are heartbroken for the Romero family. We understand, and we share, their shock. However, the incident is still being investigated, and we are working with the proper authorities to determine exactly what happened."

The incident is under investigation by Cal OSHA and the San Mateo District Attorney’s Office. The agencies said they could not release any further details while the investigation was ongoing.

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