A TIGHITCO employee died at the hospital the day after being electrocuted while maintaining industrial equipment at the company's Berlin facility, according to Berlin police. First responders had rushed to the plant on Old Brickyard Lane for a medical emergency, performing CPR before the worker was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Berlin police and emergency medical personnel responded to the 245 Old Brickyard Lane address on Oct. 29, according to Fox61. The employee did not survive, dying at the hospital on Oct. 30, according to police. Investigators say the death followed an electrocution that occurred while the employee was maintaining industrial equipment on site.
Police and State Safety Regulators Now Investigating
The Berlin Police Department is investigating the incident, and the Connecticut Occupational Safety and Health Administration has also opened an inquiry, the station's report notes. No findings, citations or determination of fault have been released as the investigation continues. Under Connecticut's state OSHA plan, compliance officers are tasked with enforcing workplace safety standards, and inspections can be triggered by fatalities, worker complaints, or referrals, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
TIGHITCO's Berlin site has been the focus of recent company investment. In July, the aerospace composite manufacturer announced a Navy-related manufacturing expansion at the same facility, backed by a $500,000 grant from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development that helped support a $1.8 million capital investment, according to a company announcement.
Electrical Deaths Remain a Persistent Workplace Hazard
Electrocutions, while less common than other causes of workplace death, remain a recurring hazard in industrial and construction settings nationwide. From 2011 through 2024, 2,070 of the 70,276 total occupational fatalities recorded were due to contact with electricity, according to data compiled by the Electrical Safety Foundation International, which draws on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and OSHA figures. Manufacturing alone accounted for 120 of those electrical fatalities over that span, making it the fifth-highest industry total in the foundation's tally.
Berlin has seen other fatal workplace accidents in recent years, though under different circumstances. In October 2024, 66-year-old David Dionne of Waterbury, an employee of CWPM, died after being struck by a payloader at the company's facility on Christian Lane, as reported by the Hartford Courant. That investigation was handled by Berlin police with help from the Midstate Accident Reconstruction Squad, with OSHA also contacted to assist. Elsewhere in the state, a worker named Marco Silva was killed in June 2016 when his equipment contacted a transmission line during a project in Wilton, according to a lawsuit covered by WTNH.
No further details about the TIGHITCO worker, the specific equipment involved, or the investigation's progress have been released. Berlin police and Connecticut OSHA have not announced findings as of Monday.
