RIG Releases Statement on Sulkava's Death

Richard Wolk, president of Rochester Insulated Glass (RIG), spoke to USGNN.com™ regarding the death of Jarmo Sulkava last Wednesday. Sulkava, the U.S. service agent for UniGlass Engineering in Tampere, Finland, died while working at RIG. (CLICK HERE for that story).

"First, we regret the fact that the accident happened," Wolk said. "He was a good friend and a good technician as well. He'll be missed by his family and us as a family and by all of the people that are working in our factory, employed by us and contract people. We liked him. We'd known him for a long time."

Several local newspapers had printed that an autopsy had revealed electrocution to be the cause of death, but Wolk said that was not the case. However, he was not able to reveal the cause of the fatality due to the "litigious" nature of the situation.

"The cause of the accident is still under investigation," Wolk said. "However, OSHA [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration] has cleared RIG of any wrongdoing, contrary to some of the other statements that have been made."

Ted Fitzgerald, a spokesperson for OSHA's Region 1 office noted, "There is an open inspection, it is not of Rochester Insulated Glass … Uniglass is being inspected."

An OSHA investigation may last as long as six months. OSHA is not able to comment on an ongoing investigation.

Wolk continued, "We have meetings planned with Uniglass [today], which will be the first date that they have been to see the situation. And that goes without saying to have been quite a long time.

"We feel that the investigation will continue and that people will learn from a mistake that was made in the field."

Sulkava's family has asked that memorials be made to the "Finnish Nationality Class Room Committee," at the University of Pittsburgh, 1209 Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.

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