An investigation into how a 24-year-old operator died after he and his dozer were swallowed in a pile of coal at a South Carolina power plant has revealed new information about how the accident occurred.
According to S.C. Occupational Safety & Health Administration records, Cody Jordan was operating a Cat D9T dozer at about 6 p.m. May 23 at Santee Cooper’s coal-fired Winyah Generating Station in Georgetown.
Jordan was pushing coal from a pile into the feeder conveyor belt system when the dozer fell off the edge of the 40-foot-high pile. He and the dozer became engulfed in coal. Jordan died from traumatic chest injuries from the weight of the coal and the dozer, according to SCOSHA.
SCOSHA determined that Jordan had turned off the dozer’s GPS system and radio, which provide location tracking and sound an alarm when it nears the edge of the coal pile. The GPS also lets management know where the dozers are on the coal yard.
“The Operator misconduct of shutting down certain defense mechanisms resulted in this fatality,” SCOSHA’s report said. The compliance officer “determined Santee Cooper did not have knowledge or a way to determine when the GPS was turned off.”
According to SCOSHA's report, management did not know the GPS and radio had been turned off, and there were no witnesses to the accident. Management received a report 30 minutes later that Jordan was missing.
According to the SCOSHA report, dozer operators are responsible for pushing coal into multiple feeders on the opposite side of the coal pile. The operators await radio communication from supervisors on when to push coal to the feeders. When not pushing coal, operators wait at the bottom of the pile. They undergo training before starting work at the plant.
Jordan had worked for five years for MOR PPM, a maintenance and management contractor hired by Santee Cooper. No fines or citations appear to have been issued against MOR PPM.
SCOSHA cited Santee Cooper with not reporting a fatality in the required time and issued a $3,500 penalty. Companies are required by law to report an employee death to OSHA within eight hours.
Santee Cooper released the following statement concerning the fatality:
“Cody Jordan’s death was a tragic accident. South Carolina OSHA has investigated it and issued no citations against Santee Cooper that relate to the accident itself.
“OSHA did issue an administrative citation, which we disagree with and have contested through an administrative law process.”
According to SCOSHA's report, Santee contested the penalty because it had determined that subcontractor MOR PPM would report the fatality to OSHA, which it did at about 7:30 a.m. May 25. Santee argued that "it would not need to report to avoid multiple reporting of the same fatality," the report said. SCOSHA upheld its citation after a closing conference in November.
The report added that MOR PPM employees are under the day-to-day supervision of Santee Cooper.
Emergency responders worked for about 24 hours to recover Jordan’s body from under the coal, according to news reports. Rescue workers first had to stabilize the coal pile before locating the dozer and the body. It also took several hours to locate the body and dozer underneath the coal, according to SCOSHA's report. The dozer was found first, and a vacuum truck was used to remove the coal from the cab. Jordan’s body was not in the cab and was found later.
The SCOSHA report indicated that Santee Cooper counsel declined to provide "company safety rules, policies, procedures, employee handbook ... due to objections made by representing counsel explaining that the request for these documents is overbroad and vague."
The Georgetown resident and Conway native leaves behind a fiancée and a son.
