OSHA still probing Federal Mogul fatal
Published 5:30 am Wednesday, July 1, 2015
The Occupational Safety and Heath Administration is still investigating the fatal forklift accident at Federal Mogul in Athens, an official said Tuesday.
Lindsay Williams, with OSHA’s public relations office, said the investigation into the June 24 death of 25-year-old employee Alan Michael Brown is ongoing. He did not know when the probe would be complete.
“It could be two weeks to a month,” Williams said. “There is no set time. By statue, the investigation must be closed six month from the opening to the issuance the citation.”
He said he did not believe the Federal Mogul investigation was a complex one.
Brown was declared dead at the plant about 9:15 p.m. after a forklift ran over his body, Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson said. Initial reports suggested Brown was securing a barrel to the forklift when he inadvertently fell under the machine, the chief said.
What prompted the employee to fall under the forklift is unclear.
“We don’t know if he tripped or not,” Johnson said. “We have no indication of horseplay at this time.”
Limestone County Coroner Mike West said he had not yet received Brown’s preliminary autopsy results.
Brown and his wife, Brianna, who met while in their teens, have one daughter, Violet, and were expecting a second child in January.