Worker Identified in EnergySolutions Erwin Death

The worker at the EnergySolutions Erwin, Tenn. Facility who died Tuesday after a fall of approximately 25 feet has been identified as Gary Reedy, 51, EnergySolutions confirmed yesterday.  EnergySolutions spokesman Mark Walker previously said Reedy had been employed at the facility for “a couple of years.” Walker also emphasized that the worker’s death was not tied to radioactive material at the facility, which EnergySolutions bought from Studsvik earlier this year. Walker declined to comment further yesterday on the situation until the investigation is complete.

 

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) have both opened investigations into the incident to see if any safety violations were the cause of the death.  Both investigations are underway, and findings are unlikely to be released for at least 6 to 8 weeks, TOSHA spokesman Jeff Hentschel said. “It’s really too early to comment,” Hentschel said. “OSHA does not release any details about the investigations until they are complete. They were on site yesterday, and we will continue to visit the site in the coming weeks to determine what happened. Of course, we are looking for safety standards violations as the target to piece together exactly what happened."