GATLINBURG, Tenn. — A company must pay over $8,000 after a worker fell to his death while setting up for a concert in the Gatlinburg Convention Center last year, a Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation revealed.
Sixty-six-year-old Jeffery Coker, an Appalachian Staffing Service employee, used a lift to access rafters 32 feet above the ground on December 26, 2023. Once high enough, he got out of the lift and traveled 30 feet across the rafters to the area he was rigging to raise motors for the concert, the investigation said.
Coker lost his balance and fell around 11:30 a.m., according to TOSHA.
Through interviews and training records, it was found that no employees had received training to recognize fall hazards. When interviewed, other employees said they brought their personal fall protection equipment. However, the investigation found that employees were not trained to select the correct equipment.
"On the day of the accident employees working in the rafters did not have double lanyards on. It was determined that there was no fall protection training conducted and no personal fall arrest system was in place," TOSHA said in the report.
The Appalachian Staffing Service, LLC, received four serious citations—all of which pertained to not having fall protection in place and not training employees regarding fall hazards and safety. Overall, the company was fined $8,200 by TOSHA on March 27, 2024.