Car wash company cited, accused of serious violations after employee death

    WEAVERVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) -- Zips Car Wash LLC faces more than $185,000 in fines from the N.C. Department of Labor after an occupational safety and health inspection found several serious violations in the wake of an employee's death.

According to a written statement by an N.C. Department of Labor spokesperson on July 23, Zips Car Wash LLC was cited with one alleged "willful serious" violation, two alleged "serious" violations, and one alleged "nonserious" violation of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act of North Carolina.

Penalties for the violations totaled $185,991.

The inspection came after a Jan. 13, 2024, incident at a Zips Car Wash in Weaverville, North Carolina, that killed an employee.

Carolina Bree Franks, 26, died after becoming entrapped in equipment within the car wash located at 1 Gill Road, according to Weaverville police.

Citation documents said the company received a "willful serious" violation because "procedures were not developed, documented or utilized for the control of potentially hazardous energy." The citation goes on to say on Jan. 13, an employee was cleaning equipment inside the car wash tunnel when she became entangled in the moving equipment, suffering fatal injuries.

The car wash company was also slapped with two "serious" violations.

One accuses the employer of not ensuring safe walking-working surface conditions, noting two damaged sections of the trench grating that created slip, trip, and fall hazards for employees. The second serious violation claims that authorized employees didn't receive training to recognize applicable hazardous energy sources, the type and magnitude of the energy, and how to control it.

One "nonserious" violation claims the company didn't secure a cable to the cabinet, cutout box, or meter socket enclosure.

The summary of the penalties was as follows:

Citation 1, Willful Serious = $161,310 Citation 2, Serious = $21,981 Citation 3, NonSerious = $2,700

"The penalties are in no way designed to make up for the loss of life," a news release by Erin Wilson, the director of communications for the N.C. Department of Labor, said. "By law, the civil money penalties collected by the N.C. Department of Labor are not receipts of the department, but rather must be remitted to the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund, which then distributes the monies to the public school system."

Zips Car Wash LLC has 15 working days to request a conference with the Labor Department, file a notice of contest with the OSH Review Commission of North Carolina, or pay the penalties.