Contractors at MCLB cited

MCLB-ALBANY — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited three contractors in connection to an incident that took place that injured a worker on the landfill gas facility project at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany.

Piedmont Mechanical Inc., Jim Boyd Construction Inc. and Chevron Energy Solutions Inc. were all cited for safety hazards after a worker received burns from an electrical shock during the installation of the landfill gas processing and compression facility earlier this year.

Overall, OSHA cited enough safety violations for proposed penalties to total $189,700 following an inspection begun in March after an incident in which the boom tip of a crane contacted an overhead power line with a carrying capacity of more than 12,000 volts. Electricity traveled down the crane through a line that was connected to the load being moved by the crane and shocked the employee on the ground, who was holding the line.

When contacted by The Albany Herald Tuesday afternoon, a public relations representative at MCLB-Albany said that there would not be a comment from the base — but that officials were working with the three contractors to determine who would be the representative speaking for them.

Piedmont Mechanical was cited for a violation carrying a $56,000 penalty for failing to determine whether any part of the crane could get closer than 20 feet to the overhead energized power line, exposing workers to an electrical shock hazard.

The company also was cited for two crane-related violations, one with a $3,500 penalty for positioning the crane on soil that was not sufficiently secure to support its weight and another with a $2,800 penalty for failing to inspect the crane before beginning the day’s operations.

OSHA cited all three companies for safety violations involving trenching and excavation of the site. Piedmont Mechanical was cited for one violation with a $56,000 penalty, Jim Boyd Construction was cited for one violation with a $49,000 penalty and Chevron Energy Solutions was cited for one violation with a $6,300 penalty for exposing employees to a cave-in hazard by allowing them to work in a deep trench where the top of the trench shields were actually two to four feet below the top.

Chevron and Jim Boyd did not have any employees exposed to the hazardous conditions, a news release from the Labor Department states. Chevron, which was serving as the manager of the project, was cited as the controlling employer, and Jim Boyd, which excavated the trench and supplied and installed the protective trench shields, was cited as the creating and correcting employer.

Additionally, Jim Boyd and Piedmont were cited for one violation each with a $3,500 proposed penalty for allowing workers inside a trench where several sections of the trench shields were not connected with spreader bars. Each also was cited for one violation carrying another $3,500 proposed penalty for allowing workers in a trench where several sections of the trench shields were not flush against the walls of the trench, exposing workers to “crushed-by” and “struck-by” hazards.

Finally, Jim Boyd was cited for a violation with a $2,100 penalty for allowing workers in a trench where one section of the trench shield system was damaged.

“When there are multiple companies operating together at the same site, which is often the case in construction projects, it is important that all the employers take a serious interest in the safety and health of the workers, and actively seek to prevent hazards like the ones we found here,” Robert Vazzi, director of OSHA’s office in Savannah, said in a statement regarding the situation in Albany.

Proposed penalties total $125,300 for Piedmont Mechanical, $58,100 for Jim Boyd Construction and $6,300 for Chevron Energy Solutions. Chevron Energy Solutions is based in San Francisco, and is a division of Chevron Corp. Piedmont Mechanical is based in Spartanburg, S.C., and Jim Boyd Construction is based in Albany.

The companies have 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, to request a conference with OSHA’s area director or to contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The site was inspected by staff members from OSHA’s Savannah office.