Fatalities probed
By John Joyce
Published in News on December 2, 2015 1:46 PM
In the wake of an industrial accident that claimed the lives of two SPX Transformer Solutions employees and seriously injured another Monday, the electrical components manufacturer is cooperating with an investigation being conducted by the North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Division.
SPX issued a statement Tuesday addressing the loss of life at its facility in Goldsboro.
"On the evening of November 30, 2015, an incident occurred at our SPX Transformer Solutions manufacturing facility in Goldsboro, N.C., that resulted in the tragic deaths of two SPX employees and the serious injury of a third employee," the SPX corporation said.
"We are shocked and deeply saddened by this incident, and offer our sincerest condolences to the families and loved ones of the employees involved," the statement reads.
The corporation said it is cooperating with the N.C. Occupational Safety and Health Division investigation and is providing grief counselors and support to all of its employees at the Goldsboro plant.
Dennis Martin, 51, of Goldsboro, and Daniel Craig Anderson, 33, of Dudley, were killed in the accident. William Saviak, 40, of Dudley, improved from critical to serious condition over the last 24 hours, Wayne Memorial Hospital officials said today.
According to authorities who responded to the scene, the men were working on a transformer and one of the men somehow became unresponsive. Each of the other two victims then attempted to help first victim, and one after the other became unresponsive as well. It remains unclear at this time which of the men was injured first and in which order the other two men fell victim.
N.C. Department of Labor Communications Director Dolores Quesenberry said that the state OSHD investigation is under way, but no information can be released until the investigation is concluded.
"So what happens is, after an incident, OSHD opens an investigation. They go on site, they gather evidence and talk to witnesses, take photographs, they look at safety records," Quesenberry explained.
At the conclusion of the investigation, the Department of Labor can, if violations of OSHD standards are discovered, issue citations, and corrective actions must be taken, she said.
The organization being investigated, in this case SPX, can appeal the OSHD findings and the citation, she said, and that could extend the process that much longer. On average, these kinds of investigations take between three and six months to complete, Quesenberry said.
SPX Transformer Solutions has had fatal accidents in the past. According to OSHD inspection records, a worker died in 2012 after being electrocuted while working on a transformer. No citations were issued after that incident.
SPX was most recently penalized in 2007, when $1,788 in citations were paid after a series of inspections.
The state OSHD investigation is not criminal in nature, and the Wayne County Sheriff's Office is no longer taking an active role in the investigation.
"The whole purpose of our investigation is to determine if any standards were contributing factors to the accident," Quesenberry said.