An accident that killed a subcontractor employee at the WestRock Co. plant in Covington last October was caused by an explosion, an investigation by state regulators has determined.
The employee was seated on a bleacher step next to a pressure vessel at the paper mill when one of eight man hatches “blew out,” according to a summary of the incident recently posted to the website of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The metal door, which measured 2 feet in diameter, struck the employee.
The case remains under investigation by OSHA’s state counterpart, the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Compliance Program.
WestRock officials have declined to provide details of the accident, which happened at 3:15 a.m. Oct. 6.
