OSHA Cites Ship Builder over Fatal 2009 Explosion in Mississippi

 The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited a Mississippi ship builder in a fatal explosion in 2009 that killed two workers and left two other workers with serious injuries.

In November 2009, the four men were working at a ship building facility in Escatawpa in Mississippi. They were inside the inner bottom void of a tugboat that was under construction, when there was a major explosion. Two workers died, and the other two workers suffered serious burn injuries.

OSHA has completed its investigation, and has cited the company, VT Halter Marine Inc. for 17 willful and 11 serious violations.

The citations for willful violations include

• Failure to test the confined space
• Prevention of entry into confined spaces where there was a massive concentration of flammable vapors
• Failure to use explosion-proof lighting in hazardous circumstances

Willful violations are some of the most serious violations, and include those that were committed with a blatant and intentional disregard and indifference to employee safety and health.

The citations for serious violations included

• Lack of machine guarding
• Providing defective electric equipment
• Lack of adequate rescue measures for a confined space
• Failure to ventilate the confined space
• Missing guardrails
• Failure to use a proper and approved container for the disposal of flammable materials

Serious citations involve those that involve hazards that could lead to death or injury, and about which the employer knew or should have known.

This was a tragedy that could easily have been prevented. Worker lives are never an indispensable or acceptable risk of any job. It’s appalling that this employer could send its workers down into a clearly hazardous environment, with no way of rescue and no way to escape injury in case of an catastrophic explosion.

The maritime injury lawyers at Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P. represent longshoremen, dock workers, shipyard and ship building workers, and other workers who fall under the purview of the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act, and help them recover compensation for injuries sustained on the job.