Builder Fined $447,125 for Subway Safety Violations

In one of the largest job safety fines in recent years, state and federal inspectors levied $447,125 in penalties Tuesday against the builder of Los Angeles’ troubled subway for safety violations found after last summer’s tunnel explosion injured three workers.

A Cal/OSHA official also confirmed that the agency is conducting a criminal investigation into the explosion that rocked a tunnel beneath Vermont Avenue and 6th Street.

The fine raised the total penalties levied this year against tunnel contractor Shea-Kiewit-Kenny for safety violations to $1 million.

Workers’ safety was cited by federal officials when they cut off funds Oct. 5 for the subway until the Metropolitan Transportation Authority demonstrates that it can competently manage the project. Tunneling has been halted since Aug. 18.

A spokesman for Shea-Kiewit-Kenny, a joint venture of three construction firms, said in a statement: “SKK has the best safety record for all the tunneling contractors on the Metro Red Line and is well below the national average for lost work day incidents.” The company is appealing all of the citations to a special panel.

The action Tuesday by state and federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials grew out of an investigation of the July 18 explosion that injured three workers, including one who remains hospitalized with burns over more than 70% of his body.

The federal-state investigation found that the explosion occurred after a 270-pound steel bracket, which was being cut by a welder, fell about 10 feet and punctured an acetylene tank. The tank caught fire, and the heat caused an adjacent cylinder to explode, creating a flash fire that burned oily rags, hoses and timber lagging, officials said.

Cal/OSHA officials cited the contractor for, among other things, failing to secure the steel bracket before it was cut loose, failing to provide fire protection equipment when cutting torches were in use and failing to inform all employees of emergency response plans.

Inspectors issued 15 citations, including five for “willful serious” violations--which imply that the contractor knew of the hazards but ignored them.

Among the violations were failure to place welding cylinders far enough from the cutting operations so that sparks would not reach them and storing more gas tanks in the tunnel than permitted.

MTA Chief Executive Officer Franklin E. White has said he will not seek to terminate Shea-Kiewit-Kenny’s contract, citing the additional costs and delays to the subway project.