CHARLOTTE — The North Carolina Department of Labor issued a $2,000 fine to Wooden Robot Brewery for not properly securing a hole that led to the death of the brewery’s co-founder.
Dan Wade died in February when he accidentally fell at the brewery’s South End location. Wade was a husband and new father at the time of his sudden death, and the community rallied in support for his family.
Channel 9 obtained documents from the Department of Labor on Friday saying the fine was issued on May 20.
According to the citation documents, inspectors found that Wooden Robot didn’t “ensure employees were protected from falling through any hole (including skylights) that were four feet or more above a lower level.” The business could have used “covers, guardrail systems, travel restraint systems, or personal fall arrest systems.”
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The department says employees were accessing the roof to perform maintenance and were “exposed to an 18′8″ fall hazard to the concrete floor below.”
No other violations were found.
Wooden Robot has since reopened its South End location.
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