Federal investigators have begun looking into the workplace death of a Rincon man Wednesday morning.

Jorge Leandro-Ramirez, 27, of Rincon, died as a result of injuries that appeared to have been suffered while working at the EFACEC plant. The plant is under construction at the Effingham Industrial Park.

Effingham County Sheriff’s deputies were called out to the site just before 8:30 a.m. after an adult Hispanic male was injured in an accident. Leandro-Ramirez was taken to a local hospital but was pronounced dead.

“We were shocked to hear it,” Effingham Industrial Development Authority CEO John Henry said. “Our condolences go out to his friends and family.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has started its investigation, and OSHA has six months to complete its work.
Leandro-Ramirez’s body was taken to the state crime lab in  Savannah for an autopsy. A preliminary autopsy was performed Thursday.

The accident is the first major work-related incident at the site since work began last summer. More than 200 people are working on the site, and BE&K officials said at the topping out ceremony last week that no time had been lost to a job-related accident in more than 147,000 man hours of labor.