Floods in eastern Tennessee. (Photo: Brandon Hull/Governor’s Office)

The Tennessee Workplace Safety Agency concluded that the East Tennessee Plastics Factory, where five employees died after the Hurricane Helen floods, had “exercised reasonable hard work” in firing employees that day.

Tennessee’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) issued a report on the Impact Plastics Factory in Irwin, Tennessee on April 2nd. The agency said that as work was stopped and employees left the building, “the tragic death of an Impact Plastic employee is not related to work and therefore will not fall within its jurisdiction.”

The agency did not issue a quote.

The inspection report states that Johnny Peterson, one of the employees killed in the September 27 flood, was killed. Litigation against the company. The lawsuit alleges that what affected the plastics was not releasing employees who had enough time to escape the rising water.

“Tosha’s report ignores testimony from multiple witnesses, important text messages, emergency warning logs, and photo evidence telling real stories about the fatal failure of Plastics,” said Zack Lawson, the lawyer representing Peterson’s family in a lawsuit against the company. “In America, we are grateful to determine the truth based on all the evidence, not the bureaucrats cite unknown sources.”

Impact plastic has it repeatedly denied fraud On April 2nd, a statement was issued welcoming Tosha’s findings.

“For these past few months, Impact Plastics and its president and founder Gerald O’Connor have worked with official bodies investigating the floods and events of the day. The facts and truths are now known,” said the attorney representing Impact Plastics.

Internal review from plastic factory where three people died “time to escape” flood found

Peterson, four other Impact Plastic employees and one independent contractor were cleaned after a bed on a semi-trailer truck that he had been sought to evacuate quickly knocked down water and debris. Five other employees who were swept into the water were later rescued by helicopters about half a mile downstream.

Difficulties in detail in the investigation provide recommendations

Tosha’s investigation included site visits, witness interviews, reviews of surveillance footage and collaborations with law enforcement. The report states that Impact Plastics workplace safety records were destroyed or lost in the flood, and points out that “disruptions in telephone services, language barriers and other challenges” have made communication with witnesses difficult.

The investigation report laid out the timeline for the morning. National Weather Service issued Unicoy County’s first flash flood warning alert at 9:14am during the company’s morning meeting. Employees were told by their manager or other employees to move their vehicles up to the high altitudes from 10am to 10:30am.

The site reportedly said that by 10:39am, employees were told that employees could leave.

Found a few months after Body Helen from Last Impact Plastics Worker

The ongoing lawsuit against Impact Plastic challenges this timeline, citing a text message Peterson sent to his family before his death. Peterson’s message to his daughter showed that Peterson had not rejected the employee by 10:51am, according to a text sent to his father. Peterson understands that the employee was fired only after the senior management left the property around 11:35am, the lawsuit states.

Tosha reports that most employees have been evacuated, but some have either stayed on South Industrial Drive or returned to South Industrial Drive. “The witnesses and evacuated employees could not be clearly explained,” some explained why they didn’t leave, but the report said some witnesses were afraid to drive in the flood, felt they couldn’t leave on car or on foot, or believed the flood would not get worse.

Tosha determined that “there is no evidence that the employee is threatened by fire or that he has been forced to work beyond a safe evacuation point.”

Tosha has no rules requiring employers to develop site-specific, strict weather emergency plans, but the agency recommended that impact plastics be created one and train employees and managers on evacuation during various types of bad weather.

Overview of Tosha Survey – Impact Plastics 04022025