KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The estate of a man who was electrocuted after falling onto a piece of equipment at TVA’s Bull Run plant last year is suing the utility giant, alleging negligence.
Seth Black, 29, went to the plant in Anderson County in September 2021 while working for Williams Specialty Services LLC. The Rhea County man was putting insulation on top of equipment called a precipitator insulator.
As he walked on top of a metal electrical equipment compartment, the top was in such poor shape that it gave way, plunging him five feet onto energized electrical equipment, resulting in his electrocution, the lawsuit alleges.
OSHA, the federal workplace safety overseer, earlier this year issued its opinion about the incident.
It found that Williams Specialty Services, GUBMK Constructors and TVA "exposed workers to fall and electrocution hazards by not determining if the walking and working surfaces employees were working from had the strength and structural integrity to support them safely. The agency also found Williams Specialty failed to provide safe access to elevated platforms; and failed to initiate and maintain programs that provide frequent and regular inspections by a competent person of the job site and equipment."
OSHA fined Williams $152,900 and GUBMK $14,502. It also issued a "notice of unsafe" working conditions for TVA, blaming the utility for failing to ensure the walking surfaces above such insulators were actually safe for workers.
The lawsuit essentially alleges the same thing, saying simply that TVA was negligent in Black's death. GUBMK Constructors, which does work on behalf of TVA plants across the Southeast, is also a named defendant; Williams is not.
Black's obituary last year described him as "an outdoorsman, enjoying kayaking, shooting and collecting guns. He was an avid fan of the Tennessee Volunteers sports teams."
The estate, represented by Christopher Branham, seeks $5 million and a jury trial. Attorneys T. Scott Jones and Chris Beavers filed the complaint.
TVA is supposed to retire Bull Run by late next year.
TVA spokesman Jim Hopson responded Tuesday to WBIR's request for comment: "TVA has not been served with this lawsuit, so it would be inappropriate for us to comment on it. Obviously, our thoughts remain with the family and coworkers of our teammate involved in this tragic incident."
Last month, TVA's inspector general issued a report that noted employee concerns about the aging, deteriorating plant, among other things.
"Running a plant with deteriorated assets more than planned has led to safety concerns. Multiple employees indicated that physical safety is at risk and a recent safety event has increased these concerns," the IG's report states.
It concluded:
"Interactions between (Bull Run) employees, contractors, and management, as well as TVA’s communication of (Bull Run's) retirement, the preparation for future opportunities after closure, and having an on-site HR representative were viewed as positive. In our opinion, the strategy used by plant management to establish a healthy workplace culture at (Bull Run) despite staff and operational challenges should be modeled by other TVA plants facing retirement.
"However, operating under deteriorated conditions can increase the operational risk and safety risk to (Bull Run) personnel."
