Employee Dies at Tool Plant

By Doug Oakley

Staff Writer

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

A San Pablo man died in an industrial accident March 15 at his job in a Berkeley metal forging and tool-manufacturing plant, officials said.

An Alameda County coroner technician identified the man as 30-year-old Ariel Munoz-Garcia, who was killed when a section of a metal grinding wheel hit him in the back of the head.

Paramedics were called to the scene at Berkeley Forge and Tool, 1330 Second St., at 10:23 p.m. Thursday night, said Berkeley Fire Department spokesman Gil Dong.

The accident is under investigation by the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said spokesman Dean Fryer. He said his office was alerted to the incident at 3 a.m.

"Our investigator will look at the site and the equipment the individual was working with and do an inspection of it," Fryer said. "We'll interview other employees in regards to training and maintenance issues, we'll talk to the employer about any safety measures that they should have in place. We also want to look at the equipment itself."

Cal-OSHA, which has jurisdiction for a workplace investigation, has not opened any prior investigations at the company in the past five years, according a database search.

A person who answered the phone at the company Friday morning said the company would have no immediate comment on the accident.