Federal investigators on Tuesday were working to determine the cause of a man’s death at Topeka’s Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant.
James Lay Jr., 61, of Topeka, a worker from a Topeka employment agency, died early Tuesday at the plant, located at 2000 N.W. US-24 highway, officials said.
There was no immediate word on what caused his death.
Scott Allen, a spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said late Tuesday morning that compliance officers were en route to the plant “to find out what might have caused this unfortunate incident.”
“At this point,” Allen said, “we don’t know what may have caused the fatality.”
Lay’s name was released at the request of his family, said Paul Bossert, president of Kansas Personnel Services, for which Lay was working at the time of his death.
Bossert read a statement mid-morning Tuesday regarding Lay’s death.
“We regret to confirm that early this morning, a contractor employed by Kansas Personnel Services Inc. died at the Goodyear Topeka manufacturing facility,” Bossert said. “Goodyear’s on-site emergency response team, as well as local emergency personnel, responded immediately.
“Goodyear is coordinating with Kansas Personnel Services on the investigation. The cause of death has not been determined.”
Goodyear officials released the same statement.
Allen said OSHA officers have six months to complete investigations, but they typically are completed sooner.
Authorities said local fire departments and first responders don’t typically respond to incidents at Goodyear, which they said is an “exempt facility” that has its own fire department and medical team on site.