OSHA: Pierce City man's workplace death "preventable"

David Keim, acting area director for the Kansas City office of OSHA, says Trenton Goodpasture's death at Ozark Stave Company could have been avoided.

Goodpasture, 19, died Monday while working at Ozark Stave Company in Pierce City. Keim says Goodpasture was operating a wood debarking machine at the time of his death, and was struck in the head with a log or a large piece of wood. OSHA has ruled Goodpasture's death as "preventable."

There were no witnesses to the incident, but OSHA investigators do not believe there is any foul play in Goodpasture's death. Keim says right now investigators are determining if proper procedures were followed in operating the machine, if proper safety guards were in place, if proper lockout/tagout procedures were in practice, if the company had given employees proper training and other factors that may have prevented Goodpasture's death.

Keim says the full investigation may take as long as six months to complete.