BYRON, Ga. — An employee at a Peach County pyrotechnics plant had to be airlifted Wednesday after a workplace accident.
According to Sheriff Terry Deese, it happened at Pyrotechnic Specialties Inc. in Byron around 10:40 a.m.
Fire Chief Jeff Doles says the man was burned on his hands and face after a small explosion and flash fire in a pelletizing room.
"It didn't burn the building… there was like a big ball of flames and then it goes out," he said.
He says OSHA will be notified in the case and that the unidentified victim will be treated at the Grady Burn Center in Atlanta.
"It's just a dangerous, dangerous job. Pyrotechnics… you're dealing with explosives. Something as simple as a grain of sand can set some of this stuff off," said Doles.
Pyrotechnic Specialties has been cited in the past for injuries at the plant.
In 2006, an explosion at the plant damaged several nearby homes. The company paid $14,000 in fines after an inspection two months later revealed that federal inspectors found seven serious violations, including improperly storing chemicals.
Then in 2008, the FBI raided Pyrotechnic and accused the company of selling faulty grenades that injured FBI agents. The case was thrown out by a federal judge a year later.
In 2009, the federal EPA inspectors found hundreds of containers of explosives and other hazardous materials improperly stored.
In 2016, they were fined by OSHA for fire safety violations after one worker was seriously injured. OSHA said it found one "willful" violation, five serious violations and one "less than serious" violation in that investigation.
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