Impact Plastics not responsible for workers killed in Helene flooding, TOSHA says

ERWIN, Tenn. — The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration finished its investigation into Impact Plastics after six employees were swept away and killed by catastrophic flash flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Helene in September.

On April 2, TOSHA released its full investigation summary. It said it found Impact Plastics was not responsible for the deaths that day because “company management exercised reasonable diligence in dismissing employees and providing them sufficient time to leave the facility safely.”

TOSHA said it interviewed employees, reviewed video footage and checked other evidence and documents provided by Impact Plastics, the National Weather Service and media reports to determine what happened Sept. 27.

“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,” TOSHA said. 

The factory was located on South Industrial Drive in Erwin, Tennessee, along I-26 near the Nolichucky River. The river ran over and caused catastrophic flooding after the remnants of Helene dumped rain across Northeast Tennessee and Western North Carolina.

TOSHA said employees were told by management or coworkers that morning to move their cars to higher ground after water began accumulating in the factory’s parking lot around 10 a.m. By 10:39 a.m., the site lost power. 

Employees were told at 10:51 a.m. that they could leave, but TOSHA said “accounts of this directive varied.” The investigation said evacuation routes were still accessible at this point.

Several employees were able to evacuate the area by vehicle or on foot using “makeshift routes” created by nearby businesses. TOSHA said others remained on South Industrial Drive.

“Witnesses and evacuated employees could not clearly explain why some individuals remained on or returned to South Industrial Drive,” TOSHA said. 

TOSHA said the last-known evacuees left by 12:18 p.m. before flooding “rapidly intensified” and swept vehicles away around 12:23 p.m.

“At 1:00 pm, floodwaters caused a semi-truck parked on South Industrial Drive to jackknife, with stranded individuals on its flatbed trailer, clinging to large spools,” the TOSHA report said. “By 1:41 pm, the semi-truck and trailer collided with a tree, dislodging large spools of pipe; individuals clung to these as they were swept away.”

TOSHA said six people who were swept away were rescued after flooding carried them a half-mile downstream. Six others died, including five employees and one contractor.

In its conclusion, TOSHA recommended Impact Plastics take steps to minimize the possibility of a similar situation from occurring in the future, including developing a site-specific severe weather emergency plan and holding emergency weather drills.

You can read the full report below.

WBIR 10News reached out to attorneys representing the company and the victims’ families for their responses to the TOSHA report. Stephen Ross Johnson, an attorney representing Impact Plastics and its CEO, Gerald O’Connor, sent the following statement:

“Impact Plastics welcomes the results today of Tennessee OSHA’s thorough investigation into the terrible and tragic events of the flood that devastated Erwin on September 27, 2024. 

These past months, Impact Plastics and its President and Founder, Gerald O’Connor, have cooperated with the official agencies investigating the flood and events of that day. 

The facts and the truth are now known, and according to the official investigation by Tennessee OSHA, “Impact Plastics, Inc. exercised reasonable diligence in dismissing employees and directing them to leave the site during this emergency.” 

Critically, and contrary to what was reported by some in the media, Tennessee OSHA “found no evidence that employees were threatened with termination or forced to work beyond a safe evacuation point.” 

Impact Plastics and Gerald O’Connor continue to concentrate on seeing to the needs of members of the Impact Plastics family and grieving over the wonderful people who were lost in the flood. Mr. O’Connor is focused on rebuilding Impact Plastics for the benefit of the employees, the customers, and the community. 

Impact Plastics intends to continue to play a vital role in Erwin’s flood recovery.”

Zack Lawson, an attorney representing the family of a person who died during the flooding, also released a statement. It is available below.

“TOSHA’s report ignores multiple witnesses’ testimonies, critical text messages, emergency alert logs, and photographic evidence that tell the real story about Impact Plastics’ fatal failures. We’re grateful that in America, juries – not bureaucrats citing unnamed sources – will decide the truth based on all the evidence.”