Accident kills man at LDS facility

A 32-year-old man was killed while working in the printing area of the LDS Church's Distribution Center on Tuesday afternoon.

Adan Smith was working near the baler machine in an area of the plant, near 1980 W. Industrial Circle (1850 South), where paper products are bundled for recycling, said Salt Lake City Police detective Dwayne Baird. Shredded paper is put into large bales and then the paper is compacted into large blocks, he said.

Just after 2 p.m., Smith "somehow got into the machine that was moving the material around," Baird said.

When co-workers saw what happened, they immediately shut off the machine and pulled the man out of the hopper, said Dennis McKone, administrative assistant to the Salt Lake City fire chief.

"He had some injuries to his head, chest and upper back," Baird said.

Paramedics attempted to work on the man, but McKone said his injuries were too severe and he was declared dead at the scene.

"Our hearts and prayers go out at this time to the family of our co-worker," said Craig Sedgwick, director of the printing division at the Materials Management Division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "Today's tragedy took from us a hardworking employee and a good friend. . . . He and his contagious smile will be missed."

The Utah State Medical Examiner will determine the exact cause of death, Baird said.

"We won't know exactly what happened until the autopsy," he said.

Following the accident, the area of the plant, which prints most of the LDS Church's literature, was temporarily shut down. OSHA officials were scheduled to perform a safety evaluation to determine whether there was a machine malfunction. The plant will remain closed until the investigation is complete.

"Safety is always a foremost concern and a constant part of our training," Sedgwick said. "Every effort will be made to determine what happened and why, so we can do everything possible to ensure that it does not happen again."

Baird said the plant has a clean history of safety, with no such accidents on record.

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