Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1501065.015 - East Side Service Center Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Providence Area Office

Investigation Summary

An employee was working as a towing manager for a firm that towed motor vehicles. The site where he worked housed two firms. The other firm was a garage where automotive repair was performed. The two firms were related, and they had a common human resources department. The towing manager contracted COVID-19. At 8:05 p.m. on October 30, 2020, he died from complications of COVID-19. The human resources manager notified OSHA of his death on November 4, 2020. She explained that the manager had been working in the same facility as two other employees who had also contracted COVID-19 at about the same time. These other employees were automotive mechanics who work for the garage. She had not initially considered the death to be work-related, because the employer had implemented COVID-19 control measures. Also, the towing manager had been involved in social and community activities outside of work in the weeks prior to his becoming ill. Additionally, she explained that only after his death did the employer learn that he had underlying health concerns that may have contributed to his COVID-19 illness. She had reported the death to OSHA based on the advice of the employer's lawyers. A review of the employer's available injury and illness records showed that three employees who worked out of the facility became sick with COVID-19 within four days of each other between October 5, 2020, and October 8, 2020. Two of them had worked in the same facility that week, and all three of them the week before. When the first coworker was confirmed to have COVID-19, on October 7, 2020, the employer shut the facility down and directed all employees working at that facility to quarantine and get tested for COVID-19. The two coworkers recovered and returned to work.

Keywords: Infectious Disease