OSHA fined Topeka's Goodyear plant $27K after 2017 death. Now it's investigating Timothy Cole's death.

The last time a worker died in an accident at Topeka's Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant, the company was fined more than $27,000 for federal Occupational Safety and Health Act violations.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into the plant's latest death, said Scott Allen, regional director for public affairs and media relations for the U.S. Department of Labor.

"OSHA will not have any further information on the incident until they have completed their investigation," Allen told The Capital-Journal on Wednesday. "By law, OSHA has six months to complete their investigation."

Who died Saturday at Topeka's Goodyear plant?

Timothy Edward Cole, 59, died as a result of Saturday morning's incident, said an incident report provided Tuesday to The Capital-Journal by the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office.

More:Timothy Edward Cole died in accident at Topeka's Goodyear. He worked there 28 years.

Cole had been employed by Goodyear for 28 years, according to his obituary.

Cole was married to Michelle Cole. He had three children, sons Seth Cole and Nicholas Cole, and daughter Victoria Cole. He also is survived by one grandchild, Penelope Cole; his mother, Frances Cole; one brother, Eric Cole; and two nephews, Trevor and Brandon.

What happened at Goodyear?

Cole suffered injuries in an accident while working and was pronounced deceased after being taken by ambulance to a Topeka hospital, said Shawnee County Sheriff Brian Hill.

Circumstances regarding his death remain under investigation by the sheriff's office, said spokeswoman Abigail Christian.

What triggers an OSHA investigation?

According to its website, OSHA investigates the following incidents:

• Fatalities, severe injuries and illnesses, with employers being required to report all work-related fatalities within eight hours and all work-related inpatient hospitalizations, amputations or losses of an eye within 24 hours.
• Hazards that could cause death or serious physical harm.
• Worker complaints alleging hazards or violations.
• And complaints alleging hazards or violations from other federal, state or local agencies, individuals, organizations or the media.

More:Goodyear and Ryder awarded cash incentives. What will those investments mean for Topeka?

When else might OSHA investigate?

OSHA also conducts targeted inspections aimed at specific, high-hazard industries or individual workplaces that have experienced high rates of injuries and illnesses, its website says.

In addition, OSHA may conduct follow-up inspections to see if previously detected violations have been abated, that site says.

When did OSHA last investigate a death at Goodyear's Topeka plant?

Before Cole, the Topeka Goodyear plant's most recent death came when a falling object struck the head of James Lay Jr., 61, a Kansas Personnel Services employee temporarily assigned to Goodyear, on March 14, 2017.

OSHA fined Goodyear $27,713 for three violations identified as part of its investigation into Lay's death.

Those involved the hazardous storage of material, a failure to regularly inspect alloy steel chain springs and the plant's having used pendant control boxes that exposed employees to an electrical shock hazard.

What OSHA violations has Goodyear's Topeka plant had since?

Seven OSHA inspections have been conducted at Topeka's Goodyear plant in the five years since September 2017, with two of those resulting in citations, Allen said.

He provided the Capital-Journal documents showing that since Lay's death, the plant has since been cited for OSHA violations once each in January 2022, November 2020 and June 2017.

The June 2017 violation was detected after an employee was hurt while operating tire-trimming equipment, said the document detailing the citation OSHA issued linked to that situation.

Tim Hrenchir can be reached at (785) 213-5934 or threnchir@gannett.com.