Goodyear fined $1M+ for deaths at Danville plant

DANVILLE, Va. (Oct. 13, 2016) — The Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Administration (VOSH) has cited and fined Goodyear more than $1 million relating to the deaths of workers at the company's tire factory in Danville.

The Akron-based tire maker was hit with four willful, 115 serious and three other serious violations following comprehensive inspections of the plant, VOSH said.

The agency also issued  two willful and two serious violations and fined the tire maker $152,600 in response to the death of Charles “Greg” Cooper, 53, who died April 12 from burns and drowning when his body was found in a pit/sump containing boiling water and oil at the plant, according to VOSH.

Among the more serious violations cited were instances of improper machine guarding and violations of lockout/tagout requirements.

In addition, VOSH issued one serious violation and a $7,000 penalty for a nonfatal accident involving an employee who was burned by steam while attempting to retest a tire curing press with a co-worker.

On Oct. 11, a Goodyear spokeswoman said the tire maker had just received the citations.

In a statement, Goodyear said it is committed to the health and safety of all of its employees. The firm added that it is reviewing the citations it received from the VOSH office “and will work with VOSH and the United Steel Workers to implement any necessary additional corrective actions at our Danville plant, beyond those we have already identified ourselves and are addressing.”

As far as the latest investigation and remediation thus far are concerned, Goodyear said following a comprehensive safety review at the Danville factory, “we have identified and are addressing environmental, operational and process improvements.

“We have implemented a series of voluntary wall-to-wall inspections, enhanced our comprehensive training to associates, strengthened the rigorous safety checks at all levels and made numerous facility improvements.

“Additionally, we are further enhancing our safety audit processes to identify and eliminate potential adverse events before they happen.”

This report appeared on the website of Rubber & Plastics News, an Akron-based sister publication of Tire Business. Reporter Mike McNulty can be reached at [email protected].