THE DEATH OF JOSH ELLIS: the Smoky Mountain Opry was fined $22,300 by Tennessee OSHA because Opry exposed employees to an asphyxiation hazard after they purposefully purged carbon dioxide piping into an unventilated basement below the stage.

TOSHA report unveils new details from fatal Smoky Mountain Opry CO2 poisoning

By:
WATE 6 On Your Side staff


Updated: Jul 20, 2018
 

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) - 

A Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation found the Smoky Mountain Opry committed several serious workplace safety violations that led to the death of an employee from carbon dioxide poisoning in March.

Josh Ellis, 38, died after a special smoke effect during a show at the Opry was left on and filled a room with gas.

According to the report, a supervisor told Ellis that the effect wasn't strong enough during the previous night's performance and told Ellis to make sure the carbon dioxide system that produces the effect was fully charged and ready when needed. TOSHA believes Ellis started purging carbon dioxide from the system about 14 minutes before the cue for the fog effect was needed. He purged the gas into the unventilated basement for 14 minutes, creating an oxygen-deficient atmosphere.

More online: Read the full TOSHA report

The report says Ellis missed the cue to create the fog effect. When he couldn't be reached on the radio point, an employee went down to the basement and found him seizing on the floor. The employee radioed for help, but later said they didn't remember anything after that.

A short time later, two more employees went to the basement and saw Ellis and the other employee convulsing on the floor. One of the employees saw the carbon dioxide valve open and told the other to leave. The employee then passed out, telling investigators he didn't remember anything until he awoke on a helicopter headed for the hospital.

The three were finally rescued by emergency crews and rushed to the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Ellis died four days later.


 

Josh Ellis (Family photo) During their investigation, TOSHA found the Opry exposed employees to an asphyxiation hazard after they purposefully purged carbon dioxide piping into an unventilated basement below the stage. The report said employees were also exposed to the same hazard from unintentional leaks from a carbon dioxide storage container below the stage.

The investigation also found that the Opry didn't develop and implement an emergency response plan to use when employees responded to an uncontrolled carbon dioxide release. In addition, employees who responded to an uncontrolled release weren't required to wear oxygen masks.

Other violations included a failure to provide a written hazard communication program, didn't ensure workplace labels or other warnings were displayed on containers and failed to train employees on the hazardous chemicals in their work area.

As a result of the infractions, the Smoky Mountain Opry was fined a total of $22,300 and must show proof that they corrected all of the identified shortcomings.

The report also included a summary of the events leading to Ellis' death.