DANVILLE (WSLS 10) - Early Friday morning, an employee was pronounced dead at the Goodyear plant as the result of an industrial accident.
An investigation will now be conducted by OSHA and a United Steel Workers investigator.
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It comes four months after Goodyear employee Greg Cooper died from a combination of drowning and thermal injuries.
Michael Wright is the USW's Director of Health, Safety, and Environment. "You don't get used to them. Every one of them is something that really breaks our heart and leads us to ask what can we do better," Wright emphasized.
He says that question was what the USW attempted to answer when an audit was conducted on the plant after Cooper's death in April.
He didn't know the specifics of the audit, but said any audit at any plant or factory is likely to find some things that need to be changed.
"A lot of hazards are kind of hidden. That is to say, you need to put into place a way that hazards can be identified not just in an audit but on an every day basis," Wright explained.
Audits were also conducted on the four other Goodyear plants around the country.
Wright says the recommendations made could take months or even years to fully implement but the USW will do everything in its power to make sure that there are changes.
As a follow up to the audits, Wrights said USW representatives are going back to the five plants and looking further into some of the safety issues outlined in the audits.
Danville's mayor, John Gilstrap, says the city is grieving.
"Our hearts and our condolences go to the family," Mayor Gilstrap said.
Mayor Gilstrap is not concerned that with this being the third death of the year, the plant, which is a major part of the economy, might shut down.
"That's totally the decision of OSHA and Goodyear administration and I think they will make the best decision."
He emphasized though that the city stands ready to help. "We will do all we can as a city to assist Goodyear in whatever they need to do."
The plant closed for three days after Cooper's death in April, but as of Friday it was unclear if employees would be back to work Saturday.