Employee dies on the job at Midlands-area cement factory, SC coroner says
A South Carolina man died in a workplace accident at a Midlands-area cement factory, the Orangeburg County Coroner’s Office said Wednesday.
Lennox W. Hinckson died while working at the Holcim Cement Plant in Holly Hill on Tuesday, Chief Deputy Coroner Sean D. Fogle said in a news release. That is about 70 miles south of Columbia.
While the coroner has not determined the 65-year-old North Charleston resident’s cause of death, Fogle did say the manner of death was accidental.
An Orangeburg County Fire Services official said Hinckson was killed after a fall at the plant, the Times & Democrat reported. Emergency workers responded to a call at about 8:45 a.m., according to the official.
Hinckson died at the scene from his injuries, the coroner said.
The Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office said witnesses reported hearing a loud bang as Hinckson fell from the fourth floor to the third, WCSC reported.
Both the sheriff and coroner’s office are investigating the work-related death, as is the United States government.
A spokeswoman with the U.S. Department of Labor told The State the Mine Safety and Health Administration confirmed Hinckson’s death, but could not say more because the investigation is ongoing.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration classified the death as machinery related in a report.
A spokeswoman for LafargeHolcim released a statement on the death, saying “We express our condolences to the family of the individual,” according to WCSC.
The company declined further comment because of the ongoing investigation.
This is the second-work-related death in South Carolina in less than a week. A construction worked died after falling from the roof of a Greenville warehouse where he was working on Nov. 30, The State reported.
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This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Employee dies on the job at Midlands-area cement factory, SC coroner says."
