Eaton Corp.’s Vanport Township plant has suspended operations until further notice after an employee at the site tested positive for COVID-19, according to a local union and its members.

VANPORT TWP. — Eaton Corp.’s Vanport Township plant has suspended operations until further notice after an employee at the site tested positive for COVID-19.

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 201 said workers were sent home until further notice Wednesday night following an 8 p.m. announcement. Workers who spoke to The Times said they’re talking to health care providers about potential exposure, and plan to file for unemployment.

Gina Goodwin, a spokesperson for Eaton, said the employee who contracted COVID-19 has been in quarantine since March 19, but that others at the plant likely came into contact with the person before that. Management is in the process of notifying anyone who may have been exposed.

"We have been working on preparing for this situation in all of our plants for several weeks now," Goodwin said. "We have precautionary measures in place and a protocol for notifying those who may have been exposed. If someone does test positive, we ask them to observe the 14-day quarantine and identify those they came in contact with at our site so they can quarantine as well."

Last week, company president Craig Arnold in a memo to colleagues said Eaton’s plants would remain open amid the COVID-19 outbreak because company products are "critical to global infrastructure." The U.S Department of Homeland Security has classified its business as essential and Eaton received a waiver following Gov. Tom’s Wolf shutdown order. It was closed March 20 and re-opened March 23.

"Our electrical equipment helps hospitals function, and keeps data centers running," Arnold said. "Our transmissions allow trucks to deliver food to stores. Our hydraulic fuel systems enable planes to fly. Our pumps and valves power the chemicals that provide essential city services."

Union president Marc Goosby, who represents about 290 of the plant’s 400 workers, said employees had been working in close quarters despite some safety precautions being implemented.

"We are a manufacturing business that makes circuit breakers, so often our members are working right next to each other," he said. "They tried their best to make it as safe as possible. I don't think it met CDC guidelines, but they put up plastic partitions. Still, in my mind, I don't know if that was really sufficient."

Eaton is a global supplier of electrical components, managing electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power systems for commercial and industrial markets.

Goosby said Eaton initially advised members to use their vacation time if they felt uncomfortable working on site, but eventually allowed those employees to take a leave of absence without pay instead. Still, he believes members should be paid for the time between Eaton’s Wolf-mandated shutdown and its re-opening on March 23. He expressed frustration with newer local managers who he said were "inexperienced."

"We never really had problems like this in the past because upper management was Beaver County born and raised," he said. "Now, we have people coming from elsewhere running things. We have had a record month at that plant, working seven days a week. It's time for management to take care of the people who took care of them."

The plant’s closure comes just days after Anchor Hocking’s glass plant in Monaca closed following an employee’s positive coronavirus test.

At Eaton’s still-operating plants, Goodwin said managers are advised to socially distance workers as much as possible, stagger shifts and restrict visitors.

"We appreciate our employees," she said. "We are remaining vigilant and following the protocols we have in place."

Pennsylvania’s coronavirus cases more than doubled from Wednesday to Thursday, with the statewide total now up to 1,687 and Beaver County at 13 confirmed cases.