Worker Killed in S.C. Textile Plant

A textile worker who died while operating a large machine at Delta Woodside Industries’ Beattie Plant in Fountain Inn, S.C. has been identified.

Melvin Stafford, 62, was killed around 6 p.m. last Friday, Greenville County deputy coroner Homer Rose said.

Stafford was operating a bale press — a machine large enough for an adult to walk into — when he became entangled in it, Rose said.

An autopsy was performed Saturday, but the cause of Stafford’s death is still pending, Rose said.

There were 60 to 70 workers in the plant at the time of the incident and no one else was injured, said Doug Thackston, human relations manager for the plant.

Thackston also said the machine Stafford was using wasn’t especially dangerous “if operated correctly.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death.