Young Man’s Tragic Death by Chocolate
Poor Mr Smith. According to news accounts he was a good guy, didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, and had recently been involved in a very bad car accident. Today while working a temp job at a cocoa processing plant, he slipped and fell into a vat of melting chocolate. The 8 foot tall vat had a 4 foot opening at the top thru which he was putting cocoa to be melted before he fell. The industrial vat was equipped with large agitator blades and Mr Smith was fatally injured by them before a co-worker could reach the emergency shut off.
Contrary to some reports the cocoa was at 120 degrees, not boiling, as cocoa butter will melt at close to body temperature. Several of his co-workers struggled in vain to free Mr. Smith and news outlets show images of several grief stricken men covered in chocolate. Obviously in anguish many of them smoked cigarettes.
Deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Mr Smith. Industrial accidents are so often tragic.
I stumbled on this story as a stub on philly.com at about 11 am today. First google news search I did gave me 2 hits, the last google news search I did there were close to 400 hits.
I don’t like the lighthearted tone many outlets are taking with this story. Mr Smith wasn’t doing anything silly, he was only working. Hot chocolate was his job. David Carradine and Michael Jackson however were both up to major “mayhem and foolishness” as they shuffled off their mortal coils and CAN and SHOULD be laughed at.
An employee of Lyon & Sons in Camden, New Jersey died after falling into a vat of hot chocolate on Wednesday, July 8, 2009. Shown is an employee of the chocolate factory with his shirt and shorts covered in chocolate. The man declined to give his name when asked. (Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer/Philly.com)
The plant in Camden, NJ.
Colleague at chocolate factory tried to save the victim (credit: Fox News)
The late Mr. Vincent Smith II.
The late Mr. Vincent Smith II.
A worker is comforted by emergency crews following yesterday's accident
Firecrews and other staff were left covered in chocolate after going to Mr Smith's rescue
Mixing vat for chocolate similar to the one Mr Smith was working with.
Image from wxyz.com
Worker dies after fall into chocolate
Philly.com | By Matthew Spolar, Inquirer Staff Writer | Posted on Wed, Jul. 8, 2009
A temp worker at a Camden chocolate processing plant died this morning after he fell into an eight-foot vat that was mixing and melting chocolate to be used in Hershey’s candy.
Vincent Smith II, 29, of Camden, was standing atop a platform and tossing blocks of solid, raw chocolate into the tank, Jason Laughlin, spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, said.
The tank was heated at 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and paddles inside stirred the chocolate as it was thrown in.
When Smith fell around 10:30 a.m., one of his three coworkers on the platform immediately rushed to turn the machine off and the two others tried to pull him out.
But Smith had been struck by one of the paddles, suffering fatal injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and Camden firefighters pulled his chocolate-covered body out of the tank.
Smith worked at a plant owned by Lyons & Sons, Inc., which is contracted by Moorestown, NJ-based Cocoa Services, Inc. to process chocolate. Laughlin said the plant, which was once a Campbell’s Soup Co. location, had been processing chocolate for six or seven years.
Laughlin said early investigation results indicate the death was accidental. The mixing process was a daily task performed by the workers, he said, and yesterday’s batch would have been used in making Hershey products.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it was investigating the incident. Lyons & Sons does not have any prior OSHA violations.
In July 2002, a 19-year-old worker died in a similar fashion when he fell into a vat for mixing and melting chocolate at a plant in Hatfield Township, Montgomery County.
An autopsy determined the man died of asphyxiation.