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topicnews · October 8, 2024

Impact Plastics is not required to file a TOSHA report when employees die

Impact Plastics is not required to file a TOSHA report when employees die

Erwin-based Impact Plastics has not filed a state report required when an employee dies on the job, a spokesman for the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration told Knox News on Oct. 7.

That same day, the Unicoi County Emergency Management Agency said all but one of Impact Plastics’ employees who went missing during flooding caused by Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27 had been accounted for. This includes Lidia Verdugo, the latest death confirmed by Knox News.

State law requires an employer to notify TOSHA of a workplace death within eight hours. Impact Plastics claims employees were given sufficient time to leave before floodwaters inundated the property.

“To our knowledge, no one has died on the company’s premises,” founder and president Gerald O’Connor said in an Oct. 3 video statement. He declined further comment through his lawyer.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation launched an investigation last week to help determine whether the company bore any responsibility for the deaths of at least five employees.

This is separate from the OSHA investigation in Tennessee, which spokesperson Chris Cannon said in an email is “still in its early stages.”

“Investigators are working to determine the series of events that led to the deaths, including when and where they occurred,” Cannon said.

Impact Plastics said it laid off employees no later than 10:50 a.m., several hours after nearby Old Hickory Buildings laid off its workers. Both companies are located in the Riverview Industrial Park on South Industrial Drive, a cul-de-sac that runs parallel to the Nolichucky River. It is the only way in or out of the industrial park.

Another company in Riverview Industrial Park kept its employees at home and closed its factory on September 26th and 27th.

As of Oct. 6, at least 12 people in Tennessee have been killed by Hurricane Helene and subsequent flooding, according to the state. Five of those deaths are from Unicoi County.

Tyler Whetstone is an investigative reporter focused on accountability journalism. Get in touch with Tyler by sending him an email at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tyler_whetstone.

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