WG recycling plant bailer crushes worker

WINTER GARDEN -- A bailer at a recycling plant crushed and killed a worker the morning of June 15, in what police called an industrial accident.

Police said the incident occurred around 9 a.m. at Robert Wallick Associates, on Susan B. Britt Court at its intersection with Crown Park Circle, northwest of the State Road 429 interchange at Plant Street.

The man, David P. Rossman, 43, was caught in a 15-foot-tall bailer used to press and package cardboard used in shipping, where coworkers found him after searching for some time, police said. He had fallen in and suffered fatal injuries when he was trying to clear an obstruction, according to reports.

Winter Garden Police Department Lt. Scott Allen said police were looking into machine protocol and functions, which should include shutdown systems that might not have been working properly.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has started to examine this case, Allen said.

Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].