Image Credit: Gov. Bill Lee / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
Tennessee OSHA (TOSHA) has decided that the actions of Impact Plastics as Hurricane Helene approached the Tri-Cities area was reasonable and that employees were allowed to leave with enough time to do so safely.
TOSHA’s investigation of Impact Plastics focused on September 27, 2024, the day that flooding brought by Hurricane Helene hit Unicoi County.
While a number of people were rescued near the business, five employees and one independent contractor died as they tried to escape the flood waters. The family of Johnny Peterson, one of the employees who did not survive, filed a wrongful death suit against Impact Plastics and its CEO.
After some employees reported that they were forced to remain at work too long that day, TOSHA and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced that they would be investigating what took place.
Last Wednesday, TOSHA released their decision, along with a summary of their findings, WJHL reported.
They noted that no citations would be issued as they had determined that none of the deaths in the case were work-related.
“Investigators with Tennessee OSHA worked closely with law enforcement and conducted witness interviews, reviewed surveillance footage, and spent time at the Impact Plastics site. After considering the evidence, TOSHA determined that company management exercised reasonable diligence in dismissing employees and providing them sufficient time to leave the facility safely. Because work operations had stopped and employees had left the building, TOSHA has concluded the tragic deaths of the Impact Plastics employees were not work-related and therefore do not fall within its jurisdiction.”
~ Chris Cannon, Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development
According to TOSHA’s report, Impact Plastics dismissed employees at 10:53 a.m. The last known individuals to evacuate left the building at 12:18 p.m. Several employees ended up stranded around 1:00 p.m., clinging to the flatbed trailer of a semi-truck. Around 1:41 p.m. those individuals were swept away in the floodwaters.
TOSHA reports that there was no proof provided that individuals were told they would be fired if they opted to leave or that they were in any way forced to remain at work.
Although no citations were given, TOSHA did recommend that Impact Plastics work on developing a severe weather plan, as well as training employees how to respond to various emergencies.
Luke Widener, a lawyer representing some of the employees and their families, released the following statement on their behalf:
“We vehemently disagree with any characterization that Impact Plastics exercised reasonable diligence in dismissing employees. The facts simply do not support such a finding, as flood waters were already too high and too strong when Impact Plastics finally, and begrudgingly, allowed workers to leave. Even so, by the time Impact Plastics finally communicated this, they failed to inform all employees. While workers at the surrounding businesses evacuated safely, Impact Plastics held its employees back, putting them in serious danger—which ultimately resulted in their injuries and deaths. While we agree with TOSHA’s suggestion that Impact Plastics should improve its emergency plans, this comes far too late for our clients.”
~ R. Luke Widener, Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman
