Man crushed in industrial accident

By Ty Tagami

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

No criminal charges will be filed in Tuesday's death of a Forsyth County man who died after he became trapped in a machine that polishes heavy gauge metal.

The incident happened at the AP Specialty Metals plant on Grassland Parkway, Capt. Jason Shivers of the Forsyth County Fire Department told the AJC.

It was reported to 911 at 2:07 p.m., and the man was dead by the time the fire department arrived, Shivers said.

The only role for rescuers was the "gruesome" task of pulling the body from the machine, he said.

The man has been identified as Jeffrey E. Thurman, 53, of Cumming,  Capt. Frank Huggins of the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office said.

Huggins said Wednesday that his department had completed its investigation, and would not be filing any criminal charges in connection with the incident.

"Our findings are that it was a tragic workplace accident," he told the AJC.

"He got caught in a piece of equipment that polishes metal. He got drawn into it and crushed," Huggins said.

Huggins said he did not know how long the victim had been employed by the company nor how familiar he was with the machine that killed him.

Company officials declined to comment when reached by the AJC on Wednesday. The company has been doing business in the state since 2001 under the registration "Tad Metals, Inc. Southeast."

Huggins said it appears that no one saw the man get caught, but he said a co-worker soon noticed and turned off the machine.

The sheriff's office called the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to investigate, but Huggins said it's likely that only the victim knows what happened.

"No one knows but him how he got caught in it," Huggins said, "and the consequences were tragic."