Serving Barnwell County and it's neighbors since 1852
The South Carolina office of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is currently investigating two recent deaths that occurred at Scotsman Ice Systems outside of the Town of Fairfax.
A death caused by a lightning strike occurred at Scotsman Ice Systems is under investigation as well as the March 7 death of Michael Cateo, 55, a subcontractor who died in a workplace accident.
Allendale County Coroner Renique Riley said autopsy results will be available soon.
Scotsman Ice Systems declined to comment.
Under OSHA law, worker fatalities are required to be reported within the first eight hours. As of press time, South Carolina’s OSHA office did not respond to a request for comment.
Holly Beeson, counsel to the Office of Communications and Governmental Affairs of the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, confirmed the OSHA investigations, which take between six to eight weeks.
Elijah de Castro is a Report for America corps member who writes about rural communities like Allendale and Barnwell counties for The People-Sentinel. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep Elijah writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today.
