Nassco Faces New Fines Over Safety : OSHA Proposes $30,000 in Penalties for Accident That Injured 9 Workers
U.S. officials have once again cited the troubled National Steel & Shipbuilding Co. for allegedly failing to comply with federal safety standards, charging Nassco on Tuesday with three “willful violations” and proposing an additional $30,000 in fines.
The latest charges--the third round of alleged violations cited at the San Diego shipbuilder--stem from an accident May 11, when a 33,740-pound propeller shaft being installed on a Navy destroyer plunged into a scaffold at the shipyard, injuring nine workmen, three seriously.
In revealing the findings, John Hermanson, area director of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said that “continuing deficiencies” in Nassco’s safety procedures “cannot be tolerated.”
“We will continue to aggressively enforce and cite violations of federal law until management eliminates the apparent increased trend in life-threatening conditions at the shipyard,” Hermanson said in a statement.
A willful violation, such as those imposed Tuesday, is an intentional disregard of safety standards, Hermanson said.
The latest ruling seemed likely to increase tensions at the plant, where management and workers are engaged in a bitter contract dispute and a verbal war about safety and working conditions.
Some of the workers at Nassco, which employs more than 3,000, applauded the federal decision, describing the citations as providing more evidence of the company’s disregard for safety. Workers there planned a protest march.
The citations indicate that “the company was well-aware that a life-threatening situation exists, yet they did nothing,” said Robert Godinez, president of Local 627 of the Ironworkers Union, which represents some 600 shipyard workers. “It indicates that the company has total disregard for safety.”
Officials at Nassco, which builds and repairs military and commercial ships, say otherwise. “Safety remains an extremely important and paramount aspect of shipbuilding,” said Fred Hallett, Nassco vice president and the company’s spokesman.
Violating Federal Standards
The latest citations by the federal safety agency allege that Nassco’s procedures at the time of May’s accident violated federal workplace standards in three ways: Nassco failed to follow proper rigging guidelines; overloaded hoisting equipment, and allowed employees to work under a suspended load. The agency imposed a proposed $10,000 penalty, the maximum allowable, for each alleged deficiency.
Hallett denied two of the charges, contending that proper rigging procedures were in place and that the hoisting equipment was not overloaded. Both findings will be appealed, Hallett said.
Company officials were still examining the charge that workers were allowed to work under a suspended load, Hallett said.
Nassco investigators have determined that the accident resulted from a defective bolt that shattered, causing the shaft to plunge into the scaffolding, according to Hallett.
Industrywide Alert
Hermanson, the federal safety official, acknowledged that the bolt did not meet safety standards; the agency plans to issue an industrywide alert about the bolt, he said.
However, Hermanson said that Nassco’s procedures violated federal standards, regardless of the bolt.
“They put it (the bolt) under a strain that they shouldn’t have,” Hermanson said.
The citations announced Tuesday are the latest in a series of problems at Nassco, which sprawls over 140 acres of San Diego harbor front and recorded some $116 million in sales last year. Sales figures were down from more than $300 million in 1986--a reflection, Hallett said, of the nationwide slump in the shipyard business.
Last July, six Nassco workers were killed when a steel basket carrying them fell on the deck of a Navy ship. An ensuing federal investigation resulted in the citing of 19 alleged violations, including seven willful violations, and proposed penalties of $62,800. A subsequent follow-up “wall-to-wall” inspection of the facilities in January culminated in the citing of 451 alleged violations, including 11 willful violations, and the issuing of proposed fines totaling $73,300.
Nassco is contesting most of the alleged violations. After receipt of the latest citations, Nassco has 15 working days to respond. Nassco may either accept the federal findings, pay the penalties and correct the hazards, or it can contest the ruling before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, an independent adjudicative body.
Meantime, the San Diego District Attorney’s office is continuing a criminal investigation of alleged safety shortcomings at Nassco, said Steven J. Casey, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office. The investigation has been going on for several months, said Casey, who could not predict how long it might continue or whether charges might result.
Hallett denied any criminal wrongdoing by the company.
