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Jun 06, 2023

Two companies cited in death at paper plant

ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY A worker wasn’t trained to run a crane and couldn’t see

ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY

A worker wasn't trained to run a crane and couldn't see where it was going when it fatally struck another employee at the International Paper facility in October, a state investigation has found.

Two companies are contesting the findings of the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry, according to citations against them obtained by The Pilot through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The department issued penalties totaling $32,100 to ST Tissue LLC of Franklin and $70,000 to CR Meyer & Sons Co. of Oshkosh, Wis., for violations of Virginia's Occupational Safety and Health laws, standards or regulations.

James Denny III, 38, of Fayetteville, N.C., died Oct. 5 while working at the paper mill. Denny was an employee of PPM, a company contracted by ST Tissue to perform work at the site on Union Camp Drive.

ST Tissue, a recycling company that converts waste paper into napkins and towels, moved into a section of the repurposed mill last year.

Denny was unbolting a support beam on top of a paper dryer machine when he was struck by an overhead gantry crane and caught between the crane and a column he was working near, according to the citations.

An investigation revealed that the CR Meyer & Sons employee who operated the crane was not trained to run the equipment and "did not have a direct line of sight of the area where the crane trolley was moving."

Also, company managers did not ensure an emergency stop button on the equipment was in working order, according to the investigation.

The companies have contested the citations, and the cases are still open, said Jane Daffron, a Department of Labor and Industry legal support representative.

Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, [email protected]

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