DANVILLE, Va.—Goodyear has contested citations handed down by the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Administration following investigations into a series of deaths and accidents at the company's Danville plant.
VOSH cited Goodyear for numerous alleged violations at the tire factory and fined the company more than $1 million, it said in a news release issued Oct. 13.
Four fatalities have occurred at the facility from August 2015 to August 2016. The latest citations resulted from the second and third deaths, Charles “Greg” Cooper, 53, and Kevin Waid Edmonds, 54; two comprehensive plant inspections; a non-fatal steam burn accident probe; and a fingertip amputation.
Cooper died April 12, while Edmonds was killed in an industrial accident on March 31.
VOSH's investigation into the fourth fatality is still ongoing, and citations have not yet been issued, according to Jennifer L. Rose, VOSH safety program director. The only penalties levied thus far are for those listed on the citations, she said.
Its initial probe at the site into the Aug. 31, 2015, death of Jeanie Strader, 56—who died when she was caught in machine rollers, according to an OSHA report—resulted in VOSH citing three serious violations at the Danville plant and fining Goodyear $16,975 in penalties on Feb. 25, 2016.
Akron-headquartered Goodyear also contested those findings. The case has not been resolved.
A Goodyear spokeswoman said the company filed a Notice of Contest on the most recent citations “as part of a formal process to engage with VOSH on its findings and seek a mutually acceptable resolution.”
Once a case is contested, companies are not required to correct cited violations until the case is either settled or tried in a circuit court for the city or county where the alleged violation took place, according to VOSH, which is part of the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry.